Chiara Townley
Contributor
The beginning of the new year doesn’t have a special meaning for me because I’ve changed my life many times in different moments.
I’ve closed and opened more than doors, I’ve left home and moved to different cities and countries. January has always been a quiet month, though.
When it’s cold I get a bit lethargic and look forward to new exciting things coming like messenger birds, with the warm air in spring.
Photograph via Lukas Becker
This year at the end of January I go back to the U.S. after six months on the road and there are a lot of things to think about. My husband and I have to find a new home and and new jobs. I can’t sleep in my winter hole this time.
There are many things we don’t know yet, but I had to decide how to face them. What is the best way to start a new life from scratch without panicking? I decided I would embrace two words this year:
REINVENTION and DISCIPLINE.
I decided to quit my career in the hospitality industry after more than ten years, because it doesn’t fit me anymore. Now I have to reinvent myself. When I was younger I would embrace every opportunity to turn my life upside down. In my 30s and with a partner I have to do a reality check and evaluate the impact of my decisions.
I have to embrace reinvention to follow my heart and my new calling but I decided that this time I will embrace a slow form of reinvention that blends into discipline. I’m a free spirit and I have never liked the word discipline, but I know that when I have too many things to think about I get anxious. For this reason, I thought that the best way to start this new chapter is breaking the day into different hours to dedicate to different things.
Photograph via Chad Madden
I will dedicate a couple of hours to look for a new job, a couple to keep on writing books and so on. I hope this approach will grant me the balance I sometimes struggle to find and carve a path for a more mature reinvention.
I also hope this approach can inspire all the free spirits out there who struggle with balancing their desires with the demanding reality.
More About Chiara Townley: Chiara Townley was born in Milan, Italy in 1984. She has always had a passion for foreign languages and travel. She lived in 4 countries to date and she likes defining herself as a citizen of the world. Chiara became an author to inspire and empower. She believes that travel is a passion that can take us to different paths in life – a vehicle to open new horizons. Her motto is: “Fairy tales exist and it depends on us to make them happen.” You can learn more about Chiara at chiarabtownley.com.