Uncoveries

Inspiring You to Uncover and Design a Meaningful Life

Embracing A Life of Experience and Freedom

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As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in the Dominican Republic with my husband. We’ve been here since the fifth, and it’s been so amazing that we’ve extended our stay an extra four days.

The weather is perfection.

It’s 80 degrees every day with a breeze that rustles the palm fronds and balances out the heat and moments of stillness. The Airbnb condo we’re staying at is modern and gorgeous, and located in a small town near La Romana on the Caribbean side of the Dominican Republic.Continue Reading

How Decluttering Helps You Change Your Life

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This is the fourteenth article following The Irony of Quitting My Job to Take a Sabbatical, the first in a series on what I learned and what I’d recommend from quitting my job to take a six-month sabbatical (without another job in sight). Last time, I talked about how the most important aspect of your life is often a lesson we need again and again. Below, I share the role decluttering played in building up Uncoveries and crafting the life I really wanted.

 

“The first step in crafting the life you want is to get rid of everything you don’t.”

– Joshua Becker

I’d made big progress in quitting a job that wasn’t fitting.

The next contributor was key in how Uncoveries got started and how I embarked on the path I’m on today.

Before I left for Prague, Anthony and I attended a conference on simple living and met a likeminded community of folks who were questioning the pressure around the fast-paced and constant consumerism in mainstream culture. The conference inspired me to barely buy any souvenirs during my trip; the past me likely would’ve bought at least three times more.Continue Reading

10 Ways To Foster Creative Ideas

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This is the twelfth article following The Irony of Quitting My Job to Take a Sabbatical, the first in a series on what I learned and what I’d recommend from quitting my job to take a six-month sabbatical (without another job in sight). Previously, I shared the process of how I came to realize the real purpose of a sabbatical. Here I share 10 ways to foster creative ideas from what I learned in my sabbatical and post-sabbatical days.

“Creative activity is a type of learning process where the teacher and the pupil are located in the same individual.”

— Arthur Koestler

The creative ideas didn’t come initially.

While my sabbatical was meant to be open-ended and exploratory, I was secretly hoping that some revolutionary idea would shine down one day in all its glory and clarity.

Eureka—I’d know the answer to what was next for me. It’d have made a great story, but unsurprisingly that didn’t actually happen.Continue Reading

The Real Purpose Of A Sabbatical

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This is the eleventh article following The Irony of Quitting My Job to Take a Sabbatical, the first in a series on what I learned and what I’d recommend from quitting my job to take a six-month sabbatical (without another job in sight). In my previous post, I shared several realizations about the value of quitting from the day I turned in my notice to when I walked out the office building, never to return. Here, I talk about my early sabbatical days and the real purpose of a sabbatical.

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” 

― John Lubbock

It was the first Monday after my last day of work. That Friday, my husband, cousin and I had gone out for a celebratory dinner and I tried my first (and likely, last) cigar. The cigar was a novelty act, more a symbol of the new chapter in my life than something I wanted to try out.

My cousin was staying with us during his internship, adding up to a household of three that summer. Every morning, he and my husband walked out the door for their jobs and left me to myself.

An introvert’s dream—or so I thought.Continue Reading

Comfort in the Unknown

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The unknown, unfamiliar, unexpected – it often results in life’s most worthwhile experiences. Yet many people associate it with apprehension instead of with excitement and adventure. I understand – I was and, although to a lesser extent, am still one of them.

It’s only human. I still have moments when I breathe deeply, reminding myself to physically and mentally calm down. Continue Reading