In an instant everything changed.

It was August 2021, and my whole world changed. I moved from Pittsburgh, PA to Nashville, TN, found out I was pregnant with our second child, and my mom died in a tragic flash flood event. 

 

What??

 

Those event radically changed my life, the direction I thought I was heading, and what I wanted to do with my short life.

 

But it didn't radically change in an instant like a movie. It was slow, it was up and down, it was mostly ugly with a few heart-wrenchingly beautiful moments. 

 

I faced myself, all the ugly parts, and came out a new woman. The only way was though, and I am so grateful that I went through. 

Those events above didn’t directly lead to starting MariJean. There was a lot in between there. But was it did directly lead to was my taking radical self-responsibility for my actions, my choices, and the direction my life was heading. For too long I spent every day jealous of what others were building and accomplishing, judging people who made different choices than I would have, and playing victim to what I thought at the time was unchangable. 

Taking radical responsibility gave me the perspective to see that there is a whole lot within my control, and changing those things can change your whole life. 

I started small. I started with my internal monologue. What am I telling myself every day? I started with envisioning the life I wanted. If I could have anything, what would it look like? I started with taking the creative opportunities that I longed for, like a pottery class and knitting colorwork patterns. 

And as I evolved, so has my family. It has been beautiful to behold. 

Where can you step into radical self-responsibility and start?