Nicole Nery
I’ve been awake since 6AM. My alarm begins to sound off in my cold and quiet cave.
Sun beams begin to enter my eyes as I open them. It’s 8:30. I’ve been half awake,
drifting in between sleep and reality for an hour and a half. I get up to get on with my day, but first: food.
But the house is a mess. Shit.
So I clean. Cleaning feels good because it feels like I am cleaning out the clutter inside my head as well.
I light one up. It’s 10AM. Time to get on with my day, but first: food.
I have dedicated the last few years of my life to “living my dream”- Moving from a fast-paced life in the city-
with a stable 9-5 job, and the comforts of living with my parents to waking up in my apartment in some island
somewhere not being able to decide if I should work, clean or feed myself first because there’s no one to do it
for me. My laundry, tidying up, getting groceries and even drinking water are things I have to make time for.
I can’t drive or call a car like I used to. Unfortunately, delivery does not exist here.
If so, it would be too costly. I live in an island full of hazards. But after 2 motorbike accidents and a dozen
bad reef cuts later, I’ve learned. I don’t mind the danger for as long as I know that I am in control.
My line of work is prone to creative blocks and moments wherein I second guess myself.
Through all this “discomfort”, I am satisfied.
After all, this is the life I have been dreaming of: my slow-paced, organic, tropical reality.
So why quit now?
I have managed to let go of the comforts of material things and have simplified everything from my diet,
waste production to my rusty kitchenware, worn out bikinis and clothes to less expensive gadgets.
Because what’s the point? It’s feels amazing and odd at the same time - getting rid of things
I don’t need - yet somehow, I’ve unfortunately accumulated so much of through the years.
I’m so excited to not have to set an automatic alarm the night before to get up for work and spend
day in day out in one place. Fortunately, I have found a way to work slowly and unconventionally.
To a lot of you reading this, I’m sure it sounds very unsettling and uncomfortable. It is.
But is society just saying that you need the biggest income and a sell-out job to provide for yourself.
But what if I can live with the discomfort? I am beyond excited to see where this
discomfort takes me, not justfor myself, but for anyone who has thought about
leaving the rat race to live slower, more sustainable, more aware.
Discomfort is a rough, sometimes gloomy, yet scenic path to a life you’ve always dreamed of.
The more accepting you are to the experience, the easier it is to understand, act, and speak from a place of love.
You will never fully grasp how much of an impact your own thoughts have over the life you desire.
But for it to happen, you need to be satisfied about being comfortably uncomfortable.
Photographs by Gaps Sabuero
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