Living in the I Don’t Know: One Thing Better with Deborah Weed
One Thing Better is a weekly series featuring someone who intrigues me, in one-question interview format.
It’s a simple premise. Each week someone answers The Question.
Deborah Weed is the creator of Paisley the Fashionista Porcupine, and her nemesis, Zavanah — “the snarliest animal fashion designer in the wildlife kingdom.”
Deborah and her husband set off on an adventure after a long stint as an accomplished executive in corporate America.
Her response to The Question today will resonate with all who’ve left behind the life they’ve known to step uncertainly in a new direction.
Radical change — even when in the name of fun and exploration — can lead to unexpected insights . . .
The Question:
What one thing have you been doing recently that’s making your life better?
Deborah Weed:
With four suitcases in our car and adventure in our hearts, my husband and I set out to travel the world. Our plan was to follow the wind.
We would rent a home for a few months, in a different part of the country and then we’d go on to the next. All of this from a city girl who thought that blazing a trail was going to Macy’s to buy a new outfit.
We were on our way into the unknown. Imagine my wonder when I dug my designer sneakers onto a muddy trail full of bees (which I’m allergic too), rattlesnakes and mountains that took us higher than the clouds.
One moment … terror would render me motionless. What if the buzzing that whizzed by my ear is the last music I’d ever here?
The next moment, I’d drink in the beauty all around me just like a pumpkin latte with whipped cream on top. I felt so small.
Like a spec in the Milky Way.
There was a point in our journey when I stared death in the face. It’s steely eyes looked through who I had become and invited me to die a different kind of death.
It was a death of living someone else’s life. It was a death of proving who I could become, instead of being who I am.
When I got back to living a “normal” existence, I discovered that I could no longer define myself.
My soul was shouting, “LIVE IN THE I DON’T KNOW.”
It is almost as if our travels led me right back to the little girl who was eager to learn and share, rather than be the woman who accomplished and knew.
Ironically, one of the definitions of adventure is: the exploration of unknown territory.
The One Thing Better that I’m doing is to lean into the unknown and know that everything is going to be “ALL RIGHT!”
Evan Griffith
If you feel inspired to answer the One Thing Better question, please email your response to TheWorldIsFreakyBeautiful (at) gmail (dot) com.
