A month in New Orleans, and how it changed my perspective

It’s been less than a week since I’ve been home after spending a month in New Orleans…so cue the reminiscing and reflecting.

I’ll admit it, I planned a whole month in New Orleans just so I could unapologetically eat fried southern food. But in between bites of red beans and rice, learned just as much about myself as I did about business.

Let me just start out by saying…I am an introvert. I love people, but I also love my alone time. I’m an enneagram 5. I am an introvert. But in addition to being a full-time artist, I also have a part-time remote job that I had been happily doing from the comfort of my apartment for years. As much as I love the comforts of home, I also had “eat beignets from Cafe Du Monde” on my bucket list. Something had to give: either the comfort of my routine or the delicious French pastries….I will never choose to give up dessert. So after months of having my finger hovering over the “book now” button on a New Orleans AirBnB, I finally did it. I booked the place to stay, packed my car, drove over 17 hours, and called my mom crying within minutes of arriving. I was terrified. I was all of a sudden extremely aware of how alone I was. I would be sleeping in a stranger’s home….alone, walking around a strange city….alone, and going out to eat….alone.

The transition from scared to energized happened an inch at a time. The first day was just going to a coffee shop. Then finding a park with green space where I could walk around. Little adventures turned into sitting down at a restaurant by myself…and enjoying it. Besides feeling braver and being okay with being alone, I also started to feel so thankful for every human interaction I had. From my neighbor saying hello whenever we passed, to the stranger I sat next to in the stands at a football game. A passing smile made my day.

I ended up loving adventuring on my own, but when my fiancé came to visit for a few days….it felt so special to have someone to share the experiences with. All this to say, people are everything. I needed to get a little uncomfortable and step out of my routine to learn that lesson. In one of my many walks in the park, I was able to really reflect and think about why I do what I do. And who it is that I create my art for. Yes, I love drawing flowers…and I partially do it for myself. But when one of my designs sparks something in another person, that’s everything. It also gave me the opportunity to think about where I want to see my art in the world. And now that I have the travel bug, it’s without a doubt on products that help people get out and travel too. Anything from a fun travel bag, to a tumbler for coffee on the go, to a blanket that’s so fun you just have to take it camping. If you’ve got adventure on the brain, all I want to do is help you make it happen. And maybe smile at some strangers along the way too.