I have a confession to make.

I am drawn to movies and documentaries that tackle the human condition in life & death challenges and struggles. I recently watched several mountaineering documentaries on my favorite streaming channels. I seriously do not think there’s one I haven’t seen at this point! 

I marvel at climbers on expeditions on places like Mt. Everest. There is so much more to it than just climbing the mountain. There is no “just” about it. It takes preparation. It takes about two months because you climb and acclimate; climb and acclimate. Climb up some. Climb back down. Climb up some more. And so forth. Then, you wait until the conditions are just right so you can leave camp before the world is awake so you can summit and get back down before crowds hit / before dark. Ironically, the most dangerous part of the journey is AFTER the summit. It’s coming back down where a majority of climbers die.

Why am I watching these documentaries? What is my fascination? I certainly don’t have any aspirations to climb Mt. Everest or any other peak. I don’t even like traveling peaks like Pike’s Peak in my car! 

I have hiked one peak in my life. Hermit’s Peak near Las Vegas, NM. I was a high school kid. It was the day hike for the camp I was at. I don’t remember it being particularly challenging in any way. I remember a path among some trees. The only thing I remember about the top of it is there were no trees and I got stung by a bee and tried to die. Apparently my overt fear of bees (oh the stories) is my natural response to an unconscious knowledge that I’m allergic. Or so a doctor told me once. I got lucky. Another kid had an epipen. And they used that. There were no adults. College Aged Counselors not that much older than me. Got me down to the bus. Bus driver refused to leave to take me back to camp. There was another sick kid with us as well. So, the counselors decided we would walk back. What were they thinking? I know one thing they didn’t stop to consider: Do we know the way back?  Because no, no they didn’t! 

We got lost. The bus full of hikers got back long before we did. I thought I was going to die by the time I got back to camp. A camp van came down the road and picked us up when we were literally just a few hundred feet from camp! I think it was a 20 mile hike. I was fine from the bee sting. But that hike - I wanted to die! 

The landscape is ever shifting.No matter where you travel, a new season requires new markers. New ropes. New paths around or through slides, avalanches, ice flows, floods, fires, etc. Even by car we encounter detours. 

I consider myself a pathfinder. My mantra?

“Where there is a Mel, there is a way!”

And life is no different. We encounter new seasons. New paths. New destinations. New modes of travel.

I had to find a way to simplify. I needed to find a way to keep everything together. Every time I thought I found a solution, it ended up being more complicated. Then, here comes Substack. I had a sometimes blog there. But hadn’t done much with it. I started a series I didn’t finish. But will. I was too scattered across everything else. So, once I decided what I wanted: write, cultivate community, connect, create  - I realized Substack had everything I needed to do just that. 

I decided to put everything under ONE low-priced subscription. I’m moving content over and reformatting it to work and fit into this container, but I am excited.

• I get to bring valuable, most requested content to my readers for an accessible monthly subscription (some of which is free).

• I get to produce my weekly newsletter (what you’re reading now) from the same place. I get to do my new podcast and audio voiceovers as well!

• I get to cultivate community in the chat experience via the app! I get to connect with other writers in their Substacks.

• I get to recommend my favorites to you as well! 

I write here to you now as we stand at the beginning of a new journey with new trails to blaze and new paths to find. In a nutshell - my tagline sums it up: dream-plan-live-celebrate. I will have content and prompts and masterclasses and printables to support you on this journey. As always, treat content like a buffet, take what you can use now and leave the rest. I’m thrilled that we are doing this together! 

If you’re curious about the specific topics, you can read my About Page which goes over it in a bit more detail. If you would be interested in being a guest writer on my Substack for one of these topics, please let me know! 

What is your dream?

When I ask people this, I normally get 2-3 sentences in reply. Do you see something wrong with this?

Capture that big dream for your life! Every detail. Once you have a clear vision or that, your choices down the road become clear without overwhelm or the burden of indecision or uncertainty. That’s when you know you are dreaming well!

FYI - not every email will be this long. Since this is the beginning of a new journey, I broke out of template mode to give you additional information. 

Thank you so much for reading this. Until next week, 

MelAnn

In my dream, I am a writer .Did you know this decision to house everything here on Substack makes me an independent writer? I am not an influencer nor am I a marketer. I stopped the hustle of trying to sell and manage courses, coaching, etc. So now, because I’ve decided to go this route, I have to rely on my readers for financial support. This is a particularly hard space for me to dwell in. But after struggling against it for months, I can say once I decided to do this, I have peace. 

So, if you are inclined, please consider upgrading to become a paid subscriber for a few dollars a month. 

If a monthly commitment isn’t your thing or money is too tight for an annual or founding friends subscription, I totally get that!

If you can buy me a cup of tea from time to time to help me keep doing what I do (every little bit helps). You’ll see occasional opportunities to do that (like the button below). Just ignore it if that's not your thing either. 

I'd love to buy MelAnn a cup of tea!

Other ways you can help:

Share my site with others. Don’t just send a link - send a personal message about why you are sending it -what made you think of them that you wanted to share the content. Invite them into the conversation! 

Engage with my social media - like, save, comment, & share posts etc. 

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