Comfortably uncomfortable

I want to start by saying how incredibly blessed I am by all the amazingly supportive people I have in my life. The outpouring of encouragement, the offers of places to stay, putting me in contact with your friends and family members in various places, arranging classes for me to teach, wanting to know how you can support me both figuratively and financially. I am so appreciative of all of you. And because some of you shared my last blog post, it was the one most read to date. I thank you.

I've had several people ask how they can help. Is there anything I need for the trip? Am I going to have a GoFundMe page? Can they sponsor a part of my trip? Etc. I hadn't actually thought of any of that. One friend suggested I head up my posts with a what I need section as I go along. Another asked if I could add a donation button.

And again, your generosity is overwhelming.

If I am honest, this makes me a little uncomfortable. Especially because I feel like I received such an outpouring of love and support after my diagnosis. But I am stretching into being comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. I am so stubbornly independent. It is not just that I find it hard to ask for help, but it often does not even cross my mind as an option. And I am stretching again to embrace my vulnerability. So, yes, I would love the help of anyone who is so inclined to offer. Uh. That's not good enough. It's almost dismissive isn't it? And it certainly is not an ask, is it? This is a really big undertaking. And I am going to need help. I am asking for your help. In any and all forms you are willing to provide it.

And why is that so hard? And why are there tears? And you are laughing and crying at the same time aren't you?

Okay. Let's breathe.

At this moment, I believe I have just about everything I need for the first leg of my trip as I have been an avid camper for years. So my major expenses will just be food and gas. I know that I will need to obtain both a backpacking tent and sleeping bag for cold weather for the second leg which starts in November. I will keep you posted as I go.

I will look into adding a donation button on the main page, but if that is not possible, I will include something in the individual posts for those who want to make a monetary donation. I thank you in advance. And I will thank you again and probably publicly unless you tell me not to. In the mean time you can send money to angela@eco-evolve.com through PayPal. If you select the send money to friends option, there are no fees and you can also add a note. I will also be posting some of my handmade jewelry for sale on Facebook.

Some other things that have been mentioned are have you thought about making a documentary? Will you write a book? Have you contacted the local media to do a before and after piece? You're going to take lots of pictures right?

Wow! While the focus of this trip is not to get caught up in trying to document everything, I certainly do intend to take pictures, journal and blog about my experience. Should that naturally turn into a book then great, but again the intention of the trip is not to go have an experience so I have something to write a book about. Even though I worked in television and could produce a documentary, that requires a lot more equipment than I am not willing to lug around. If you know someone who wants to make a documentary then they can contact me and come join me for segments of the trip, but not the whole trip. Contacting the local media never crossed my mind. But if you know someone who would be interested in doing a human interest piece then by all means have them contact me. I am happy to support others in their endeavors as well.

So again, thank you all for your kind words of encouragement, your support, your loving embrace. Keep those questions and comments coming.