Roaming Towards Myself

Years ago I stood right on the edge of the Grand Canyon.
Not near the edge. Not a comfortable few steps back like most sensible people. Right on the edge.
Behind me I could hear my mum calling out, telling me to move back. She was worried, which is completely fair considering the Grand Canyon drops about 1.6 kilometres straight down and her daughter was standing there smiling like she was posing in a garden.
I told her, “Not until someone takes my photo.”
Eventually someone did. I smiled, the photo was taken, and my mum could finally relax again.
At the time it was just one of those funny travel moments.
But recently, while packing up my house and preparing for a completely new chapter of my life, I looked at that photo again and realised something.
I’ve always been someone who wants to see the view from the edge.
Since I was a kid I’ve wanted to experience life, not just watch it from a safe distance. Sometimes that has meant skydiving, squeezing through caves, scuba diving, or standing a little too close to the edge of a canyon while my mum worried behind me.
And sometimes it means standing on the edge of a completely new life.
Right now my house is packed up. My plans are unfolding. Soon I’ll be getting on a plane and heading toward a new chapter that I’m both excited and curious about.
Years ago my mum was behind me telling me to step away from the edge.
These days she’s my biggest supporter telling me to step forward instead of back.
Life has a funny way of bringing us back to the same place in different ways. Once again I find myself standing on an edge. Not a canyon this time, but the edge of an old life and a new one waiting to begin.
And just like that day at the Grand Canyon…
I’m leaning forward to see the view.