OFFICIALLY AWOL

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I don’t love this post but it’s a quick stream of consciousness of the last week's emotions:

Last week I had someone drop an amazing gift off at my doorstep….it was a mandala of words about me! As I read it, I fixated on one word – UNLEASHED.  Over the last few months I have begun to start to feel this way, truly FREE.  I haven’t felt this way for a very, very, long time. In fact, I’m pretty sure it was somewhere around the age of 16 since I last felt free to chart my own path in life. And really, I don’t think I ever have felt as free as I do now.  With this feeling of freedom comes empowerment and fear.

Little moments of fear had been creeping in throughout the week before I left, but I was unable to recognize what I was afraid of until it rose it’s head again at the Changi Airport when my brain truly connected the fact that when I board this plane at this airport there is no going back. I realized looking at this fear that it was an immense fear of failure and that it had been a while since I’d been faced with the fear of failure.

I immediately thought of a scene in the movie, “Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom,” when the blonde lead has to reach her hand into a narrow dark cavity of slimy squirming bugs to access a lever which will set them free.  I had every choice not to board the plane, I could easily change my flight and go back to the safety and security which I have felt for years back in Australia.  I could go back to my safe corner desk looking over Darwin and keep following the same processes over and over again for years to come.  And I knew I would be fine, that I would be safe and that I would even be happy making this choice. 

So, why did I board the plane?

Because of the equally strong feeling of empowerment that I now feel, because I am a 37 year old female architect who has been unleashed and is able to give my time, my skills, and myself to The Anganwadi Project in Anunthapur, India.  Because my high level of education and consistent employment in my career means I can do just about anything I want when I want.  This incredible privilege of being highly educated and gainfully employed means that I am empowered.  And now I am free to apply that any which way I want...this privilege, that I do not take lightly, along with my skill set directly connects with why I am doing the project in India: designing and project managing the build of an early childhood education centre (a.k.a. an Anganwadi).

Education is the foundation of what sets any of us free – Ghandi knew this; you know this deep down as well (however, you may wish it not so). 

And so, I spring off my extremely over engineered footings into this new life – I am officially an AWOL architect!   

Ready to design for the many and not the few!
Ready to apply some Vaastu to a new school!

(check out recent photos via Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqtei_kFxqZ/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet )








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