Restless to Renewed
Restless to Renewed is a podcast about women redefining midlife and beyond. We discuss topics of interest to women who are on a quest for a happier, more fulfilled life.
Restless to Renewed
Breaking Free for Creativity and Self-Sufficiency
Have you ever stood at life’s crossroads, wondering if it's too late to reinvent yourself? Jamie Harris joins us in a heart-to-heart conversation, sharing her courageous transition after her divorce that led her to a new city, a newfound independence, and a rediscovery of self. Our conversation weaves through the challenges and triumphs of starting anew as an empty nester, unearthing the power of solitude, and the tenacity it takes to rebuild a life from the ground up.
We wind up the conversation with Jamie's decision to make a major change in her life to fulfill her dream of working as a chalk and collage artist.
Thank you for listening.
Be sure to visit the Restless to Renewed website for pictures and more information about episode guests at www.RestlesstoRenewed.com.
Hello everyone, welcome to Restless, to Renewed Women, redefining Midlife and Beyond. I'm Janice Neely, your host, and today my guest is Jamie Harris. I had the pleasure of meeting Jamie a few weeks ago when she inquired about my coaching work. As we talked, I became very fascinated with the next steps she plans to take in her life. Jamie, thank you for being here today. I love your story and I think our listeners will too. So how are you?
Jamie:Hey, Janice, thank you for having me. I'm doing well. I'm in a transition period between two jobs, so I've had off this week and I'm doing good, and I'm excited about talking with you and sharing about what I've got planned in the next several months.
Janice:I think there's going to be people that will identify with you and they will enjoy this conversation as much as I enjoyed the other day when we spoke. So let's just go ahead and get started. So about your story, I know you live alone and you are self-supporting. Has it always been that way or have you made changes there?
Jamie:No, it has not. I married my high school sweetheart when I was 20 years old. We were married for 20 years and we have three children together. But I am an empty nester, I guess you could say now have been for a couple of years, but I was the homemaker and he was the breadwinner for those 20 years, and so that was a huge change to suddenly be on my own and still having a couple of kids at home and figuring out what it looks like to be a single person and having to navigate all of the pieces of financing and support and just all the pieces. It's a lot.
Janice:I'm thinking your marriage ended correct.
Jamie:It did. We divorced about eight years ago. So yes, I've been single for eight years, OK.
Janice:And you're 48 now.
Jamie:I am.
Janice:You're still a youngster.
Jamie:I appreciate that I don't always feel that way. Well, to me you are.
Janice:But there's still plenty of time, yeah, plenty. So right now you've been on your own, you said, for eight years. And what has it been like for you? I know you spoke about your jobs and your finances and what it's like, even your personal life.
Jamie:You know it's hard and yet it's a both and. I kind of look at life that way, as a both and and, so I can do what I want, go where I want. Basically that's been really good, but it has been a challenge and you know, when you're in a marriage, in a partnership, you have somebody else there to navigate decisions with. In our case, like I said, he was the breadwinner. He supported us. He handled all of those pieces that I had no idea about. He did our taxes, I mean all of those financial aspects. I was like I'm over here taking care of the kids. That's my realm. He seems content to take care of that.
Jamie:I'm fine, but that's a piece that typically tends to stress me out and I'm not like an over-anxious person, but that's one of those pieces that was really hard. So, just knowing that, I didn't have that backup, and so I have had a few jobs in the last eight years. Like I said, initially I still had two children at home and I was still the primary caregiver. So what's it look like now to also need to get a job and still be the primary caregiver and get them where they need to be and making sure they're taken care of. And OK, where are we going to live now? Because we lived on family land, we built a home next to my parents, and so it's just a lot of pieces. I mean, I have a great support system and really sweet people in my life that I can talk to, but when it comes down to it, the decisions that I make, I make alone, and so you know, when it was with my children at home, okay, I have got to find a house and I have got to find what's going to be the best area for us to be in and then to buy a house, which that was really cool and really scary at the same time. To buy a house on my own, but that's huge. These are just huge responsibilities, and so I think that those kinds of things have been the biggest challenge.
Jamie:You get accustomed to being alone, and I have said that I had to make friends with aloneness and that's different than loneliness, so I'm pretty good with that now. I like being on my own schedule and kind of coming and going as I want, but I think, just knowing that there's really not a backup or what will be your backup when you face huge challenges. I grew up in Georgia and three years ago moved to Nashville and was like, all right, that's where I'm supposed to go and what I want to do, and I know that it's right. And the Lord just opened the doors wide open, but that's still scary. You're jumping and you don't really feel like you have a safety net.
Janice:Right, I can't imagine yeah. I've been married, my whole life just about, so that would be really hard to just go on your own. You told me that for years you have dreamed of becoming an artist, and was that always your dream? I mean, were you dreaming that when you were a child or a young woman?
Jamie:I was. It's always been a part of me. I grew up just loving to draw. My grandmother used to draw and she was real creative and crafty and she did a lot of cross stitch and things like that. But she would just give me a notebook and a pen and just tell me to draw, and so it's always been a part of me and I loved it. I loved art. It was really the only thing in school that I enjoyed. That's what I wanted to pursue, other than being a mom. That was it. I want to be a mom more than anything, but if I have to do something to make a living and just what would be meaningful and fulfilling, and it was to be an artist, so it's always been there.
Janice:Is there anything that's hindered you or kept you from following your dream?
Jamie:Yeah, I think mostly me. But in high school I loved art and I thought well, I can go to art school. I didn't really love school and didn't really want to go to college in a traditional sense. I didn't really want to be a teacher or anything. I just was like I'm going to do art and I didn't know what that would look like or how would that support myself. But I had an art teacher. I told her I think I want to go to art school and she looked me square in the face and she said oh, you won't fit in, you're too normal. And so that was kind of crushing. I'm a teenager, I'm trying so hard to fit in. We don't feel like we ever really fit in those years, and the only thing that makes me feel happy really or that's how I felt is art. And you're going to tell me I'm too normal and I shouldn't do it.
Janice:I hope that that art teacher said that in jest and maybe you didn't pick up on it. She was serious. Well, I would think in the art industry or as artists. There's all kinds of people.
Jamie:There are. But when you're 17, 18 years old, and even since then in adulthood, it it's like oh my gosh, why would you even say that to a kid? We're supposed to be encouraging you? Help me figure out how to make this happen.
Jamie:If I'm gifted in it and I was and I am, I don't mean that as a boast, it's just I've really had to work hard to settle in and accept that part of myself. So that really has been the biggest hindrance, not feeling like it was valuable and that it wasn't a little hobby kind of thing. I was a wife and a mom and I was raising kids and running around, and now i in no way imply that they were a hindrance. They weren't. They are my greatest joy.
Jamie:But you just get busy in life and I really didn't have a lot of support in my marriage to be artistic and to go forward and to pursue that. I did bring it in in different ways and tried with my children different things in my home. Even there I wasn't supported and I wasn't encouraged. So that's where it was like well, if I go, spend the time out in an art room and I did eventually have an art room, but I was like I should be in the house doing this. I should be getting ready for dinner.
Janice:Especially if you don't feel like you're bringing in income, then we consider it not valuable. But a lot of times things are valuable to us because it helps our psyche.
Jamie:Right right, and I didn't really tap into that for all those years. It was just let's take care of what everybody needs, and maybe one day there'll be time for it, and it was just that kind of thing. Like I said, it was just a little hobby. It's just not something you just really spend time on.
Janice:I know, as mothers we often think if we do things like that, we're taking away from our children's time, and so you start to become the martyr. You know, I got to do everything for my kids and I don't think I ever begrudged it really, but I do think that I could have pursued some things and I didn't just because I thought, like you said, there'll be time.
Jamie:Probably about 15 years ago, I did start going to some black light chalk art classes. Every year for about eight years I would do that and come home and I would draw in churches here and there, but there again it wasn't like, oh, I've got a drawing coming up, so let me go out there for three days before I'm supposed to go do this presentation and I'll stay up all night and I'll work on it and then, okay, it's over and it's done and now let's go back to life. But all of my children are creative in their own way and artistic. But if I saw anything like that, I really wanted to encourage it in them. So I think that's interesting how we can have something in us that we won't pursue or fight for in ourselves. But it's like oh, but I want that for you, I want you to have that and I want you to know that it matters, that it's important. I want you to feel like you can pursue it.
Janice:Yeah, and hopefully most parents would want their children to have what they want in life. You know, that doesn't mean there can't be bumps and things like that as you go along. But I want them to do what they do well and be happy in it. I get that. So the children are raised, and I think you said you were working two jobs recently to just make your ends meet. Is that accurate?
Jamie:Yes, it is. That's part of being single and being self-supporting and there was a time when I didn't have to do that. Part of that is because there's been times where I didn't manage things as well. But then also our economy. It's just not great and it's hard. And when rent keeps going up and groceries keep going up and everything just keeps going up, it's just hard. So I think that's part of me knowing that I'm going to have to get a second job just to cover the basic things. And that started in January. I'd really been trying to put it off even from last summer. Last summer it was like I know I'm gonna have to do a second job and I really tried to put it off as long as I could. But I bit the bullet in January.
Janice:So basically, that meant that you had less time to pursue your dreams because you're working so many hours, and so I know the other day, when we talked, you came up with an idea on how you might make a shift that would allow you to pursue your dream of being an artist.
Jamie:So I've been struggling with that for several months and I also had really been wrestling with purpose, like what was I made for and what am I supposed to be doing with my life? I had a really sweet job I worked for a church and I have an amazing team and staff and made such sweet friends but really struggling, being really frustrated and feeling stuck. And I finally came to this place of I'm not stuck unless I choose to be and what do I want. And about two years ago it was in between jobs I had a back injury and the job that I had when I moved to Tennessee it was actually an artistic job. It was for the skate game and I worked in the shop and in the paint and scenic department.
Jamie:But it was a very physically demanding job and it caused a back issue. For two months I was out of work and in that time I remember just trusting that the Lord was going to provide. I didn't know what it was going to look like, but I remember coming to the place okay, Lord, if I could do anything, what would it be and what would you make me to do? And it was that I would make my living as an artist and I would use art in a therapeutic way to help people, and so in these last several months that has really been coming up again and I think that had been part of my frustration, because it was like, well, I don't know how to make that happen.
Janice:And.
Jamie:I've got to have a job, and that's when I went on staff at the church and that was such a sweet blessing. And so a few months ago, as I was wrestling, it was like, okay, I'm frustrated all the time. I'm just starting to be resentful, and that's nobody's fault, it's me, because I'm not doing what I need to do and I don't have to be stuck unless I choose to be, and I need to right my ship. And what does that look like and what are the things that are holding me back? And so, financially, there's I have a little bit of debt. It's not extensive, but personally. It's more than I want to have. I don't want to have any. Like I said that all those things are just continue to go up and it's like what am I paying for?
Janice:And so you made a change in your mind and you stated that that you're going to do something that most of us would never think of doing.
Jamie:It's exciting yes, and it's not just, oh, let me just decide to do this. But looking at those aspects of what's killing me and what do I need to do, and financially, what's holding me back, that's where the second job comes in. I'm never going to get to where I want to be if I'm doing the same thing. But you can't just keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome. So, looking at just housing and those kind of things in this economy and in this sweet city that I love so much and so thankful to be here, I decided that I am going to convert my van Dory, as I lovingly refer to her, and I'm going to live in her for a while, because, for one, I love my van.
Jamie:I laugh and joke with people. When something happens to her, I'm gonna grieve hard. I've had that van for 10 years. We've been through a lot, that's why I call her Dory. She's got some dings and she's not near as pretty as she used to be, but she just keeps swimming and just keeps going. I joke, and some of the best sleep I get is taking a nap in that car when I just let my seat back.
Jamie:And so, yeah, I've decided that I'm going to do that and that's going to save a tremendous amount of money. It's going to allow me to get my debt paid off much quicker than I would normally, and it feels like that's what needs to happen to get me going in the direction that I want to go in. And it gives me hope. I feel hopeful and excited about the future because I feel like I'm not just stuck. I do have a plan and this is what needs to happen to get me where I want to be, or where I think I want to be. I feel like I have a vision for my life and for my future, but I mean, it's the Lord's and he's going to direct it, but it is still in keeping with what I feel like he's shown me and how he's leading me so far.
Janice:So you're planning to move into your van. When we talked the other day, we talked about a timeline and I don't know if you've made any shifts in that, but from what I understood, the possibility is moving into it by next fall.
Jamie:September. My lease is up September 10. And so my middle daughter is in college in Arizona and she'll be home this summer and so really in mid August, I need to be be prepared because I'll take her back. We do a road trip to Arizona to take her back to college, so when I get back I'm gonna need to be ready to transition into minivan life, and so that's my timeline.
Jamie:Right now I'm kind of chomping at the bit. There's things that I want to do, but I am busy. I don't have the hands-on part yet because I've been doing a lot of research, watching lots of the minivan videos, and when I have a question about just electrical or storage or just set up, I'm trying to look those things up and get reviews, see what other people have done, thinking through how I want mine to be set up. What do I want to spend getting my budget set up, just kind of dreaming what I want it to look like and then going, okay, you know what this is, what I would love and how I want it to be set up and how I want it to look and budget wise and practically. Can I achieve that in the time that I have between two jobs?
Janice:Well, hopefully you won't have that an extra job once you get moved into Dory.
Jamie:Yeah.
Janice:Who knows?
Jamie:Not for long at least. I don't know. We'll see. I'm starting a new job next week. I'm really super excited about that, and I also work at Trader Joe's part-time and it's really fun. So I don't want to have two jobs but at the same time it's like ooh. But I'm really going to enjoy what I'm doing. That's going to be hard, but I I don't know. I'll worry about that after September.
Janice:Well, shout out to Trader Joe's because you said you love it there.
Jamie:I do. Sorry, I hope I could say that I don't know why you can't say you love working there.
Janice:I can't imagine anybody being upset about that, okay. So I'm thinking minivan not just to survive. Maybe you'll thrive in there, Right? So what is your plan for showering and cooking and doing your laundry and things like that?
Jamie:I have friends that say come take a shower at my house, or you can come park here, or you can come over and do laundry. So many people that step into van life do it because they want to travel and so they're having to figure out a lot of logistics along the way. I'm not really going to be traveling for a while, but just around in this area. I have that benefit of places where I can go and take a shower and that kind of thing. Planet Fitness, yes, if I can, for whatever reason can't get to my friend's house or my daughter's house or whatever. There's Planet Fitness and I know a lot of people who live in their vans. That's what they do. They have Planet Fitness memberships because you can go to any of them. Oh my gosh, they're so clean, they're nice. You go in, you get in a massage chair, you can exercise, whatever. And then there's laundromats. I can go in an hour and wash all of my clothes and dry everything, and everything's getting washed all at once. And then everything is dried all at once and I'm done and I've been able to take a little break.
Jamie:And then, as far as cooking, there are different options with that, depending on my power source, there's hot plates, a lot of vanners do. The little propane stoves yeah, it's been researching that. It's like did I want like a little Coleman stove? You know there's a lot. You can do with a teapot electric teapot, yeah, yes, and I have one. I have a tea kettle and so I'll have that. That's hot water right there. That's going to cover a lot. And if I do the hot plate with a little burner, you know I can boil water there too to cook in. I have little frying pan. So there's a lot of research and I'm trying to be really good about that and look up those things. But then too, that aspect of not having such financial constraints, because I'll be saving.
Janice:So are you having any fears about the living in the van?
Jamie:I don't know that. I have fear, really Just knowing that it's going to be an adjustment and you know, anytime you have transition, even when it's good, there's always that anxiety of what's this going to be, or anticipating. Right now I'm thinking about where am I going to park, but I feel safe in the options that I have, but I think it's more just the what's it actually going to look like and I think it will be fun and I think there's going to be so many things that I do enjoy about it and there's a lot of things that I'm looking forward to, like. I am looking forward to not having an apartment that I have to come home and clean every day, that I have to come home and clean every day.
Janice:So when you get moved in, there's the possibility that you might not need to work both jobs, and so we talked the other day about that, freeing you up some to start dabbling into art or into the art world again, and maybe really not just dabble, but throw yourself right into it yeah. So how do you feel about that? Are you exhilarated? Do you have fears? Is it all sounding good to you?
Jamie:I'm excited about it, I'm hopeful and I do think about the time management piece and, again, just really not letting those old thoughts hold me back Like am I good enough?
Jamie:I don't have the art degree or all these different pieces, but I'm really more excited about it.
Jamie:I'm excited to jump into mediums that I haven't really got to pursue and with my new job that I'm starting, I'll be working for an organization starting point advocacy and turning point charities and they're really precious to me because they walk with women through the divorce process and divorce trauma and crisis, and it's the divorce cares in the midst of it, and that was something that I desperately needed, even though I had people who loved me, supported me. Just like I said, those pieces that you don't think about finances and taxes and all of these different things, logistic pieces that you may not have known about and so that's what this organization does. I'm super excited about being with them and I'm hoping to start adding art to the support group. That's something we want to start getting going for women who've come through the organization already and ones that are currently in it, and so I have talked to my new boss about that and even had it written into my contract that anything that I develop artistic and therapeutic wise like that, that that's mine.
Jamie:I have ownership of it and I can use it outside of there and take it with me if I ever leave them very smart yeah, they want to protect their stuff and I was reading through the contract and the things that you create, your intellectual property, that you create while you're with them or develop, is theirs, and I was okay with that, except in art. So I talked to my boss about that even before she offered me the job and I said I really want to do that at some point, create some classes, some therapeutic art classes and she was like that would be really great. You could probably do that with our people. So to go back and be able to say I need you to write this in because I had already talked about that. It's something that I want to be able to use and develop going forward, not just for there, but in general, yeah, Well, on our Restless to Renewed website, we have a section called the Enrichment Studio.
Janice:And right now it's the podcast and it is recommended reading, and then we have a blog, but I'm hoping to add some Facebook live trainings and maybe you would make a maiden voyage launch with us and teach a short 30 minute class or something like that, and we use our audience as your practice.
Jamie:We'll talk about that. I'd love to do that.
Janice:Maybe yeah.
Jamie:As I get it developed. I'd love to have a conversation about it, so we'll talk about that, okay.
Janice:So what medium is your specialty?
Jamie:Well, I would say chalk and collage. Chalk because it's kind of hard for me to say, oh, what's my favorite or what's my specialty. I really want to experience more and because I haven't pursued more over the years, there are other things that I want to do, but chalk, probably, and collage are two of my two favorites, because I do the black light, chalk art and and then collage has been very therapeutic for me and very healing, and so I think that collage is probably my favorite. But I love chalk because you literally have your hands all in it and so I love that. I love the feel of the chalk and just having my hands on my board.
Janice:So are you interested in churches contacting you to do the black light chalk? Oh yeah, yes, I would love that so we can also have some information about that, maybe an image of what you do.
Jamie:So if churches would like you to visit and do that.
Janice:I think that would be lovely. I've seen it done a couple of times and it's just amazing how that image appears.
Jamie:I know, and for people that haven't seen it and they don't know, it just really has like wow, it is really neat to be up there and to be doing that and to hear that. So when people see it appear, I just really do love that and I would love to be able to do it. See, I'm not great at self-promotion, so people are like you need to go do the butt. Well, remember, I'm a marketer.
Janice:That's what you're for.
Jamie:So, like you need to go do the butt. Well, remember the marketer, that's what you're for, so that's right. So that's why this is good, because I didn't even ask you to mention that and you just said it right well, that helps.
Janice:You know, we have the collective on our website too, where people have the listing of what they do. We could make you up a little section there with some information on that too it'll be amazing yes. So if you were able to move toward your dream and I don't say if you were able to, you are doing it, but what would you like your life to look like in two years?
Jamie:In two years I would be debt-free. I would have a good bit of money in savings by then and I would be creating art, even if it's not my sole livelihood. I want to be creating. I have ideas for artistic pieces, series that I want to do, that I'll be intentional about starting on those. I'd love to be in a bigger van by then. I can't even say that I would want to be in an apartment, necessarily. A tiny house really is my goal, but if I'm in an upgraded van by then, I think I would be great.
Janice:People are always going I want a bigger house, so this is amusing. I want a bigger van.
Jamie:Well, you know, I love it well, and here's the thing, I know that it can be counterintuitive, but I've had the big houses, I had all that and I have my children, I have my family. But when you walk that path of divorce and the loss and the grief and the brokenness, you just really come to learn what you value. And it's different for everybody, but for me. I always just tell my children home is wherever I am, and they will feel that way regardless of whether it's a van or it's a house or whatever. But I just really don't want that anymore.
Jamie:I just want simpler. There are things that I very specifically want and I want my time to go to things that are really meaningful to me, like art and family, and it's not a big house for me anymore.
Janice:I remember when we called them the McMansions and everybody was trying to get into a bigger house and that was a big push for years and years. And when the tiny house movement came out, it wasn't frowned upon to have a smaller house and a smaller footprint as far as the resources you're using yeah, electricity and water and everything right and I'm grateful for my homes.
Jamie:I don't ever want to come across that I'm not grateful for that. I'm grateful my children had a beautiful home to grow up in and land and those kind of things, but I also remember the amount of time that it took just to care for it and I just want that time to go to something more meaningful and special and relaxing. Yeah, we've talked about that too.
Janice:I watch so many people and I always think what is it that I want? And I always think experiences I want to experience things.
Jamie:Right.
Janice:So we've talked about the financial situations and going through your divorce and your job and so forth. So what advice would you give to other women who are striving to achieve financial independence and self-sufficiency? And I'm going to say that you are making some major decisions and I think they're great. Making some major decisions and I think they're great, but how would you tell people that it's okay to make decisions and to move forward?
Jamie:I think to start off with one I'm going to say do not depend on me for financial advice whatsoever.
Janice:I'm not good at that.
Jamie:That's something that I'm learning. I would say you need to read and figure it out and ask questions. I actually found out about Tiffany Alicia, I think, is her last name. I heard her on another podcast and, through a series of some bad choices when she graduated from college, wound up in extreme debt and what it looked like for her to get out of that. You know some things similar to the Ramsey style, but I love listening to her because that's coming from a woman's perspective. There were just things that she said that makes a lot of sense to me and she just had a really sweet story and so I'm looking forward to really diving more into her advice and I would say that understand that you're not stuck and that's a really hard place to get to.
Jamie:We can feel so mired down depending on what's going on in your life. Like I said, I'm single, so I do have a little more freedom in the kind of choices that I can make, but I think that we can easily feel stuck and feel like we don't have a choice and that is so defeating and discouraging and you have to step back and go. Okay, what do I want and am I stuck? No, what do I need to do to move forward? And then you have to decide are you willing to do that? I mean, everybody knows, nothing in life really is free. You do have to work hard. You have to think about what do I really want? I would not tell anybody to make rash decisions. This wasn't a rash decision. I feel like that's the biggest thing is thinking about what do you want.
Jamie:I am going to say if you're a believer, if you're a Christian, you pray about it and figure out what it is you want for your life. And if you could have anything, if you could do anything, what would that be? If you could make your living doing anything, how would you spend your time? And then to step back and go okay, so what do I need to do in order to move towards that and for me it was finances is the biggest thing. So how can I combat that? I can do this. Am I willing to do it? Yep, I'm willing to do it. I know I've got to have the two jobs. I'm going to have to have two jobs anyway. I want to make that work for me. I don't want to just keep working just to fill somebody else's pockets and I want what I do to be meaningful. It needs to be meaningful to me and I feel like I'm purposeful in my days and serving others.
Janice:You've talked me into it, so I'm going to get a van. That might not be your thing I'm thinking about. There'll be this whole massive amount of minivans with women running around Nashville.
Jamie:Hey, then we might be able to find land that we can all like go in together and just have a little village. I don't know.
Janice:Oh, you don't know how many times I've thought about that. Not necessarily the van, but having a small, tiny house, village, and they're popping up all over, but they're more commercialized and so yeah, I do want that.
Jamie:That's kind of part of my long term. I would love to have that for especially women to come and go you need a break just come for a weekend, just come for a week.
Jamie:You just come for respite and be cared for, because I think we all need that. And I'm not saying men don't, but you know, as women we take care of everybody and we tend to not take care of ourselves. So I think that's another piece. It's OK for you to want things in your life and to want to be fulfilled. And I think about as a Christian. We can think about life being so hard and sometimes we can lose the joy. I think about the Lord saying I came that you might have life and have it in abundance, and it is both joy and sorrow, and you're going to experience all kind of things. Saying I came that you might have life and have it in abundance, and it is both joy and sorrow, and you're going to experience all kind of things. But I just keep thinking I'm supposed to have joy too and I think it's okay for me to want to enjoy my life too.
Janice:I wrote a blog post this last week about half glass full and half glass empty and how I spent most of my life half glass empty and I'm starting to make that switch, and so I think that part of that half glass empty I'm starting to make that switch, and so I think that part of that was always guilt, like I'm not supposed to be happy.
Janice:Right Because other people are suffering, so why do? I think I should be happy, but I'm switching my mindset. So your words are inspiring and I think probably a lot of other people will need to hear those words also.
Jamie:Well, thank you well you're welcome. I do want people to just feel encouraged and, again, like I said, we don't have to be stuck. You just have to figure out what direction are you moving in and what steps do you need to take to get there. You gotta be able be willing to do it. You can't just sit back. You gotta move forward, make sacrifices and yep, that's be willing to do what needs to be done.
Janice:Yeah, and I firmly believe in that. So this has been a really fun conversation and for years I've been watching people in vans and I was telling you earlier that my mom is excited because she watches van life and all the women that are retiring in them and so forth.
Janice:So she's looking forward to this and for those of you who would like more information about Jamie, we'll have pictures of her van Dory and also I'm hoping, jamie, you'll be able to get some inside and outside and we can see the progress and this summer I have another visit with you and get the updates.
Jamie:Yeah, I would love that. That's additional motivation. When you start telling people, then you become accountable for it, so it's helpful for me. I want to get busy because I've got to send pictures and people are going to want to know about this and, like I said, the people that I've told have been so sweet and open and pretty much all of them have said, yeah, I can see that.
Janice:We want the pre-pictures right now, nothing done.
Jamie:We want it from scratch. I can do that.
Janice:Okay. So anyway, like I said, you can find out more information about Jamie on our website, restless2renewed. com, and I think right now I'm just going to go ahead and finish this up today with another quote that I think is appropriate for this conversation, and then we'll just be saying goodbye. Is that okay, jamie? That sounds good, okay. So here is our quote this time around Holding on is believing that there's only a past. Letting go is knowing that there's a future, and that's by Daphne Rose Kingma. I love that, okay. Well, it made me think of you All. Right, everyone. Well, we thank you and we're going to say goodbye. So goodbye, jamie, goodbye. Thank you so much for having me. You're welcome. You have a good rest of the day.
Jamie:Thanks, you too.
.png)