Hello! A quick update from Launch!
Packing:
I spent time with people all week and left packing for the very. Actual. Last. Minute. But I didn’t feel stressed or pressured from my professional levels of procrastination. I wasn’t completely tranquil, either… I was in a weird place of just “sitting” in the awareness of change. Subconsciously I think I procrastinated packing because I wanted to marinate in my last week, and packing would take me out of the present and into the future.
Flying:
I arrived at Pensacola airport at 6am yesterday morning – just as the sun was rising above the trees. I flew from PNS to ATL and slept for about 45 minutes on the plane (to add to my grand total of about 2.5 hours the night before). I awoke to a stewardess asking me to please put my seat in an upright position.
Once in ATL, I met up with other world racers. Gina Marie is on my squad and spent all night packing, too. I’m not alone and all my people are here with me.
Launch:
I am in Atlanta right now, in a hotel near the airport. Five different squads are here, ready to leave the country for a year. We have a few days of training before we go, though! And today’s focus – for me – is about expounding on a role I was given for the first few months of my trip – the role of storyteller. In a nutshell, the storyteller is supposed to encourage their teammates to cultivate their blogs and record the details of their adventure. My first thought when assigned this role was, “There has been a mistake! I am horrible at writing blogs!!!!” Maybe “horrible” is a strong word, but “infrequent” and “out of practice” is 100% accurate. They explained to me that storytelling is not about the blogs – it’s about the people behind the blogs. Storytelling is about creating space for my teammates to share the impact that they’re making with the folks back home – people who care about them and who may never experience something like this firsthand.
My role is temporary and a very small part of the World Race experience. But I am excited, just the same!
Above is a photo of me and the other Storytellers on my squad! We‘re all pretty excited.
Left to right: Kelly, Brenna, Me, Allison, Beth
