Life and Death

One of the things I have always loved most about Kenya is the rawness of life and living. There is an indescribable beauty in the truth that you witness here. 

Life is raw. 

In the bush, bones are scattered on the ground amidst the newness of fresh green grass and wildflowers. 

Everything is out in the open. There is no hiding from death here. 

Predators must kill in order to survive, and a wounded and limping zebra will most certainly fuel hungry hyenas or lions, then jackals, vultures and beetles, finally returning to the earth to help regenerate the grass and soil. 

Amidst the death and the harshness of life, there is the most extraordinary beauty and joy of life and of living as well. Babies are born, flowers bloom, and the sights and sounds of the bush invite you to join in the merriment and celebration of the living. 

The earth beckons for you to delight in its sunrises and sunsets, the magic of the Milky Way and stars above, and the sound of the wind moving like waves of an ocean through the leaves of trees. 

The joy of a woman singing, walking home from a day of work. The deep resonance of Maasai men as they vocalize while dancing around a fire at dusk. The coo of a baby, smiling as she takes in the new world around her. 

Life is magical. Life is precious. 

As I mourn the passing of my Grandfather, I look into the eyes of my daughter and celebrate the life within them, and within her. Grandaddy lives on through her. One life comes to an end, while another life begins. 

Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone

August 15, 2019

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

That saying has hung on my wall since I was a senior in college. And how true those words are. Back then, I was recovering from a head injury and a break-up, facing innumerable challenges on a personal and physical level. 

Now, I am a mother of a 13 week old beautiful daughter, a wife to an incredible man, and we have just moved to Kenya. 

Living in the Kenyan bush has been a life-long dream of mine from the very first time I came to Africa with my family at 7 years old. The people, the land, the animals... all of which captured my heart 22 years ago, and never left.

Yesterday I asked myself if I was crazy for doing what we are doing. Moving literally across the Earth to another country, another culture, a new job, a new place... and with our newborn baby. 

Yes, it is crazy. And it is challenging in ways that I anticipated as well as others that I couldn’t have possibly imagined. But following your dreams requires at times a complete leap of faith. Hoping and opening and trusting in something greater than yourself, beyond which you could ever possibly truly comprehend. 

Following your dreams takes courage. 

As I lay here in bed, I can’t help but feel the urge to pinch myself. Is this really real life? Is this really truly finally happening? 

I have prayed and begged and dreamed of this for years now, and here it finally is, a tangible reality.

The feeling is unlike any other. It is intoxicating, standing at the edge of your comfort zone. Terrifying, electrifying and incredible. Standing at the edge of the “known” and with faith and courage moving towards the life you have imagined. The life you want. The life you have longed for. 

Behind the mirage of what we think life is... after the bullshit of societies expectations, the ingrained conditioning, the “should’s” and “shouldn’t’s” of life are removed. That is where reality lies. And that is where life truly begins.