Joy was elusive. Fleeting. Ephemeral. The word’s legally in my damn name and I felt like more of a joy repellent.

It was time for something to change.

Robert Louis Stevenson, writer, traveler, and bold adventurer said:

“And the true realism, always and everywhere, is that of the poets: to find out where joy resides, and give it a voice far beyond singing. For to miss the joy is to miss all.”

To miss the joy is to miss all… 

I didn’t want to miss the joy anymore.

I made a choice to go recklessly searching for where that joy resides and I started changing my life on the journey, one small step at a time.

I am now on a dedicated mission to try every pho place I can find in the country, and folks, I’ve put down some serious miles. Topeka, Kansas shockingly holding down the award for Kristin’s Favorite Bowl of Pho in America. I don’t know what witchcraft was done to that giant cauldron of liquid gold, but I still dream about that broth. I think about that irrationally important bowl of soup often. I get lost thinking about how many times I had to say yes to adventure to find myself at that phenomenal pho in Topeka last fall. To know I never would have discovered that magical moment if I hadn’t started changing my life… I think to miss that wondrously simple bowl of soup, as Stevenson said, would have been to miss it all.

It’s about the adventure. It’s about following your curiosity… one small step, one bowl of soup at a time.

“Adventuriosity” is the attitude I started cultivating to build my most authentically joyful life.

Now I adore riding that bull frog while maniacally laughing, traveling the country fueled by gallons of pho, making the coolest friends, staring wondrously at redwood trees, working on projects I adore, experimenting with live DJ yoga (pretty rad actually), learning how to back up a trailer (work in progress people), dancing at funky electro jazz shows (me? dancing??), and writing about building a more authentically joyful life every step of the way. It isn’t perfect, but I feel like my life is so much bigger… so much more ME than it was before.

Have you felt like you’re missing out on something bigger?

I’m not talking about finding religion or discovering the truth behind UFO sightings.

What about that intangible pull on your soul looking for a better opportunity? Some bigger, better version of yourself? Some enlightened version of this whole game of life?

Something magical happens when you get curious about where your joy resides. I swear, your next adventure appears right around the corner.

You deserve a life that brings you joy.

A life you don’t need to escape.

We all do.