All photos by the talented Ellen B Hansen
When I told my family and friends that I was leaving NJ and moving to Boise Idaho to be with the man I love, most of them freaked out. Laura, you can't be serious? Do you really know this guy? I can't believe you're moving to Iowa ( yep, I got that one a lot ;) These phrases were repeated by a few well meaning friends and family members. I was also reminded on several occasion that I would be moving to a state where, well, there was very little black folks. That was 12 years ago. I've since married my mountain man ( 10 years and counting), developed a major love crush on Idaho, became a business owner and formed some of the most meaningful relationships that's helped shaped me as a person.
Y'all all of this scared me! Fear was showing up, putting it's dirty ass feet on my coffee table and getting comfy. UGH!!! I had to DECIDE if the want was bigger than the fear. The want has to be big and I don't mean "I want those ankle boots" big. I mean, I want to marry this man, own this company, move out of the country and start a new business because I LOVE this BIG! Love, passion, GOALS will push through fear but that shit has got to be real. Why? Because the moment it becomes hard or suck ( life gets that way sometimes) you'll want to quit and get back to comfort zone.
So I had to ask myself, how badly do I want it?! I wanted this so badly that I was willing to look beyond the what ifs and see what WE could be if I moved to Idaho. I wanted to see who I could become with this move. The process was hard, easy and everything in between. It took time for me to truly find my place and develop meaningful relationships. It's helped me to foster a mindset that I have to try and push through the fear because lessons need to be learned and that's how we feed growth. So I work it like a muscle. I know that fear will always be there to remind me that what I'm about to experience is an opportunity outside my comfort zone. So I take a breath, prepare myself also know as work and get comfy with being uncomfortable. Fear will always creep up when you dare to move beyond where you stand. Recognize it and stifle its powers with your BIG vision, die hard action and passion driven LOVE!
