Reader,

Earlier this week, as I rode the ferry that carried me away from Lummi Island, I thought about my first visit two and a half years ago.

It was my first housesitting gig after giving up my apartment in Seattle. I was facing an empty nest, unemployment, and a lot of complicated emotions — proud of my girls and excited for their futures, while totally unsure about my own.

I knew one thing. It was time for a change. Time to put myself first and figure out who I was, separate from what everyone needed me to be — matriarch, breadwinner, emotional rock.

So I gave notice on my apartment, put all my stuff in storage, and left my cats with an ex, while I embarked on my new life driving up and down the West Coast as a traveling house and pet sitter.

What better place to start than a three-week housesitting gig on a remote Pacific Northwest Island, in a beautiful home overlooking the Salish sea with a sweet pup to keep me company — a writer and nature-lover’s paradise. The solitude allowed me to dig deep and start rebuilding a relationship with myself. I took long walks on the beach, listened to the owls hooting at night, and decided to start my first women’s co-working community.

Thirty months, 55 sits, and thousands of miles later, I returned for my fourth visit, this time for three months. I watched eagles nesting, winter turn to spring, and the first daffodils bloom. I wrote more in those three months than I had the entire previous year. Most importantly, I got a look at who I am when the noise stops, and I’m alone with myself.

As the ferry woman waved me off the boat, I drove onto the mainland feeling grounded, self-assured, and excited for what comes next.

A big shift from the woman who drove off this same ferry boat in November 2023 with a pit in my stomach and no idea what came next. This time, I left with a sense that I could trust myself to figure it out as I go.

I hear from so many women who are standing at their own version of that threshold right now — not quite sure who they are or where they’re headed.

If you’re in that transition space and want someone who’s been there to talk it through with, my door is open.

Recent Byline 📰

"I'm spending 90 days living on a small, dreamy island in the Pacific Northwest" (Business Insider)

Books Are My Love Language 📚

​The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton is one of my all-time favorite books. I've listened to it multiple times and recommended it to everyone I know. It's one of those stories that works its way inside you and never leaves.

A near-future climate fiction novel set in Florida, the story follows Wanda, a girl born during a catastrophic hurricane, who spends her life navigating a world that constantly reshapes itself around her. She survives because she refuses to disappear.

It feels so personal, because it’s exactly what we're all doing.

Have you read it? Hit reply and let me know. I have it in my Bookshop if you want it.

Weekly Journal Prompt ✍️

When did you last give yourself permission to stop, not because you had to, but because you needed to? What did the stillness reveal to you?

Write bravely, my friend. See you next week.

-Amber 🥰

PS. Do you know a woman in midlife looking to build community? Forward this email so she can sign up below.

Thanks so much for reading and sharing! 🙏