Welcome Aboard
“Welcome aboard.” I’ve had to repeat those words over and over in my head, as I memorize the announcements, airport codes, company abbreviations, and more for my next big adventure. As I type, I fly to training school to become a flight attendant and transform my life in ways I can’t imagine.
Once upon a time, I traveled to attend college and then university. Marriage and divorce? Huge changes. Opera programs, gigs, and auditions brought me around the United States and to Italy, Israel, Denmark, Sweden, London, and Paris — sometimes for days, sometimes for months.
New York City enchanted me most of all. After moving there for work with the Metropolitan Opera, many of my opportunities centered around the city. Although I expanded my operatic base briefly to Washington, DC and Los Angeles, the pandemic canceled that rather quickly. Los Angeles Opera gracefully paid me seventy-five percent of my contract with them in 2020, and I never actually had the chance to set foot in a rehearsal room, no less perform.
Thankfully, I had already set forth on the incredible journey of life coaching. The eighteen months I spent in training and certification improved my well-being more than I could have ever believed, and I adore working with clients to help them also reach their unimaginable goals. Beyond that, it really saved me emotionally during the back and forth of a more quarantined life.
Still, this winter in NYC left me battered and bruised, in need of this next surprising challenge. Catching COVID for Christmas, a breakup, and an actual physical stalker for months had me anxious about my physical health and safety in a way I cannot express. If you’ve read my writing before, you know that although I understand the need to shrink back and heal from time to time, I far prefer the expansion of change.
Honestly, the beginning of 2022 had me in the darkest place of my life, despite all the tools I’ve learned over the years. After clearing out the debris day after day, I can finally sit on this plane above the clouds and see the light coming through.
This next challenge brings a swarm of unknowns. Will I make it through the hardest parts of training? Which hub will I call home? What kind of adventures and experiences will I have in the air and at destinations? Those uncertainties signal to me that I’ve chosen an excellent path. Finding the sweet spots of life requires leaning into the things that make me uncomfortable and discovering what lies on the other side. This is a wonderful, necessary, juicy rabbit hole of discomfort.
Don’t worry, I’ll still coach my clients. I’m even looking forward to working with a new program coaching young people pursuing unusual degrees and life paths. Furthermore, this flight attendant opportunity gives me time in transit wherever I land to write more articles like this and the books I have to contribute. Of course, I’m still a singer. For meaningful work and projects, after my probation in 2022, I’ll have the flexibility to continue my love of performing as well.
No matter what, this is very different. Taking off from my new home to my new future put that feeling of suspension in my chest. The feeling at the top of the amusement park ride, just before it drops. Not having felt that sensation in a very long time, I can tell, I’m onto something real. Welcome aboard.
