The Turning Points of Our Lives

A man goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town...

Dunedin, FL | One of many “homes” on my journey

As one of my graduate professors often said, quoting Tolstoy, “All great literature is one of two stories: a man goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town.”

But since literature is inspired by life, I think it’s true that our lives also follow this plot.

We’ve all met a stranger who winds up being the person who changes our life completely. But we also go on many journeys throughout life—the human journey is universal. It’s not always a physical, either. A journey can be a time of transformation in which we learned something about ourselves and our place in the world.

Such moments in life are what I think of as turning points. That specific hour or week or year when everything changed. The turning points of our lives demand reflection because they shape us deeply, often in ways we don’t consciously realize.

The first major turning point in my life was losing my home to foreclosure at seventeen.

Experiencing housing and financial scarcity in my formative years forever altered my relationship with the idea of home, and I often thought I’d never have the means to create my own home again.

This was very much the beginning of a journey, because I embarked on a decade-long search for home that took me to seven states and *literally* around the world.

After I got the courage to write about this experience, first in many journals and then in my memoir (the first draft of which is currently in revision, if you’re wondering!) I realized how this experience changed me.

I traveled near and far because I believed home was something I could find out there, failing to realize I’d never feel at home anywhere if I did not feel worthy of a home within myself. Which is to say, I had to learn to be more comfortable with my very uncomfortable past. I had to know that I was good enough for the life I wanted, no matter what past I carried.

Reflective writing helped me get there.

Now, with a fuller understanding of my turning point and the journey that followed, I’m working on sharing my past without feeling ashamed, which I know leads to deeper connections with others. Reflecting on this journey allows me to consciously work toward creating a life where I feel at home.

Now, I ask you:

What’s the turning point in your life?

Did a stranger come to town?

Did you go on a journey?

If you feel any kind of spark or rumble here, it could help to write about your turning point in a journal. Or, maybe just go for a walk to think about it, if writing the words feels scary. Baby steps.

I’m happy to announce that I’m bringing my newsletter back, where I’ll share my thoughts on writing, life, and healing, here with you. Thank you for reading!

P.S. I recently explored this prompt in a yoga and journaling workshop for some friends here in Denver. If a virtual workshop on this topic is something you’re interested in, please let me know!

One of my favorite spots in Dunedin, when I lived there, to walk and think and *sometimes* write.