Coddiwomple- A Series of Stories

One day, a friend shared this video from a TED Talk with me.

https://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_osborne_the_theory_of_coddiwomple

I’d never heard this word before but it struck a chord with me.  It occurred to me that I had been coddiwompling my way through life. In case you’re still unsure of it’s meaning, I came across this more complete definition of the word.

Coddiwomple (v.)

to travel purposefully toward an unknown destination 

to be completely open to limitless possibilities 

to UNpredict your journey

I was a straight A student for most of my life, had taken university level classes in high school and was expected to follow through, end up in a career that would have had me settle down with a man, 2 1/2 kids and become a home owner. But I didn’t. Many times over the years I’ve thought to myself: “What have I done?”

Well, this is what I did. I said “yes”, “sure” and “absolutely!” to all kinds of opportunities that came up. I didn’t even know it and I had opened myself up to the universe. I have moved forward with purpose but with no idea where it would take me and it’s been brilliant. I’ve worked in a hunting and fishing lodge in Northern Ontario, I’ve worked every part of the food industry, I’ve been a deckhand on a commercial fishing boat, a teacher, childcare provider, developmental support person, blogger, house and dog sitter. I’ve travelled to 13 different countries including seeing a good portion of Canada and the U.S.A., and lived in 3 of them. I’ve met people from all walks of life and made friends in more countries than I can count. The best part of it all is that I’m only 52 years old and I still have so many more years of coddiwompling to do. Yay!

I was reminded by a friend, how much she enjoyed listening to my stories, so I thought I’d start a series that would include mine and Wendy’s stories about how we’ve coddiwompled through life but we’d also love to hear your stories and add them to this collection. Don’t forget to let us know why you think your story falls in the Coddiwomple category of your life. Please send your stories and at least one photo of yourself to [email protected] In the meantime, keep on adventuring.

Lots of love,

Julie