Alice Valentine

They say, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” But what do you do when you’re being stoned from every angle with limes and lemons, while it’s raining coconuts with no shelter? [Lord, if I should be making a Pina Colada just say so.]

I know I’ve been MIA for a while, but life has truly been life-ing. So let’s do a quick catchup:

1. I moved to a new country and basically restarted adulthood.
2. I turned thirty in June 2023 and have been uncomfortably riding the mid-life crisis wave ever since.
3. I’m still happily married (hooray for the most understanding, loving husband, ever.).
4. I still have NO IDEA what I’m doing, I just know what I’m passionate about and I continue to let that guide me. In other words – just vibes.

Now that we’ve gotten the important details out of the way, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. Moving to a new country is hard. I’m a dreamer but I’m not naive, so I knew it wouldn’t be a cakewalk. But I certainly wasn’t prepared for the onslaught this move would have on my mental health. Seemingly simple things that I’ve done for most of my adult life like house and job hunting felt like hiking the Grand Canyon in July with no water. And each time I thought I’d found a miraculous stream to drink from I’d quickly realise it’s been poisoned with cyanide. If it sounds dramatic it’s because I’ve had a dramatic 2023 and a very eventful January 2024. But in the words of Jamaican philosopher, Masicka, “Rain fall pon everybody roof.” So, we move.

And that’s my encouragement to anyone reading this blog – keep moving.

Keep hiking – yeah, the first few streams maaaay have been sprinkled with a bit of cyanide for dramatic effect, but what’s life without a little excitement? Keep hiking, there’s clean water, cool breeze, shade, and rest just up ahead. But you have to keep going to get there. Plus, the view at the top is magnificent!

Keep believing – that dream you’ve been sitting on? It’s time to put some action behind it. It’s your dream, so only YOU can execute it. DO IT.

Keep swimming – you are way too far from shore to give up now! If you’re tired, roll over and float. Then tread until you can move again. But don’t you quit!

Keep searching – “Seek and ye shall find,” can be applied to just about any situation in life – hide & seek, life’s mysteries, your cheating man’s phone – anything. If you’re on a journey (or going through a mid-life crisis like me), don’t stop searching until you’ve found what you’re looking for. Now, I won’t promise it will be all rainbows and unicorn farts, and you have to be able to handle that. But don’t give up the search until you’re satisfied.

2024 is the year for growth, and growth is uncomfortable. But isn’t the result just so wonderful? So, my dear, strap in, throw on a life jacket or a floaty and prepare for the swimming lesson of a lifetime. At the end of the year, we’ll look back at the journey together with pride, of not just the distance you achieved, but all the new tricks you learned in the water while you swam to the other side.

xo A.