Sunday as I was going through my comments and notifications on my blog I saw a little note from WordPress congratulating me. It was my fourth year anniversary since I began my blog thirdeyemom. I looked at the little symbol and reflected for a moment. Wow. Four years! Part of me was surprised that four years have passed so incredibly rapidly, just like a blink of an eye. The other part of me was almost shocked that I haven’t been blogging longer. Regardless, I realized at that moment what a profound impact my blog has had on my life.
Beautiful handicraft items made by Heart of Haiti Photo credit: Heart of Haiti
Not only have I received immense enjoyment and satisfaction from sharing my journey online, I’ve met countless fellow bloggers and have made some extremely good friendships with like-minded people from blogging. What started out as a simple place for me to share my travels and views of the world, has brought me into an entirely new path of global advocacy. I have learned about issues impacting some of the world’s most neglected, left behind people and have used my voice to try to create change. I have traveled to New York, Washington DC, India and Ethiopia all thanks to my blog. And, tomorrow I am leaving for Haiti.
Looking back, little did I know that taking a leap of faith would bring me to where I am today. All those self-doubts have been cast aside. At 43, I finally feel like I know my place and journey in life. It took a lot of wrong turns, mistakes and bad choices but somehow serendipitously I ended up here. I am confident that if I keep plugging away, that only more doors will open and I will continue to follow the path of my dreams.
So what does my family think? Thankfully they wholeheartedly support me. I am often asked how I do it or sometimes even get the comments such as “Wow, your husband must really love you a lot to let you travel.” I just shrug my shoulders and let them believe what they want. I know I’m fortunate to have a wonderful life partner who supports me and helps me (not lets me!) follow my dreams.
As I prepare for the 3 am wake-up call tomorrow and get my bags packed, I look forward to the next five days in Haiti. I have done my homework and know what to expect. It may be the western hemisphere’s poorest country that is still in deep recovery after the horrific earthquake five years ago. But it is rebuilding and there is hope.
Photo credit: Heart of Haiti
As part of the Macy’s Heart of Haiti program, we will be visiting the amazing women artisans who are working hard to build themselves and their families a better life. Women who five years ago were merely survivors who lost so much. I look forward to sharing more of their inspiring stories with you of hope, determination and a will to never give up. I will tell you about how Heart of Haiti was founded and why. How it has lifted these women up from hopelessness and poverty and has enabled them to create a sustainable living through art. I look forward to sharing their stories and offering a voice of hope.
Further reading:
Today, on Global Moms Challenge, my friend Leticia Barr wrote a guest post about our upcoming trip. She has traveled to Haiti before with Heart of Haiti and her post gives a bit more background about the program and what we aim to do.
Have a great time!
Congratulations on this anniversary, nicole…Wow! I look forward to seeing your posts for this journey (and learning more about Haiti).
Sending hugs, love & support, and best wishes for continued growth for the meaningful, important work you do…
Thanks Lola Jane! 🙂 I appreciate your kind words and enjoy your meaningful posts!
Congrats on everything you have achieved Nicole. You are making the world a better place. Safe travels.
Thank you so much Sue! 🙂
I have so much admiration for you. You spread grace around like candy. Have fun in Haiti!
Alison
Wow thank you Alison for the extremely kind words! I truly appreciate it! 🙂 Nicole
Congrats !
I continue to bleed envy and some jealousy of your incredible life and always look to you whenever I feel like my blog is a waste of time !! You rock
Thank you so much Rob and Diane for the kind words. I truly appreciate it! 🙂
I envy your work!!! Your blog is an inspiration for people like me…. keep up the good work 🙂
Thank you so much! 🙂
I have been traveling to Haiti for 8 years and always enjoy the return visits. The culture and people are hard to describe. It will be interesting to see your insight
Thanks so much for your comment. What have you been doing during your visits to Haiti? I truly feel in love with the place. Yes, it is hard to describe. I know I’ll be back. Would love to read any of your insight. 🙂 Nicole
I am an ob/gyn physician in the Twin Cities area and have been traveling to Haiti for medical mission work since 2006. I have also started a microfinance non-profit to benefit the local women of northern Haiti (Helpinghaitiwork.org). Our upcoming trip in April will be to teach midwives cervical cancer screening.
Wow, that is wonderful. If you are ever interested in getting connected with a group of women bloggers on maternal health, please let me know. I work with a large group who share work like yours. I can only imagine how daunting your work must be in Haiti given the poor infrastructure and health care system. My friend is going there sometime soon with a NGO to document the work of midwives. If you are interested in having your April trip covered, please let me know as you could send me a post and some photos from your trip, and I’d be happy to share it on my blog or with my network.
I would love to share stories beyond my small blog following. How would i get more connected with this group? Do u know where your friend will be going with the NGO? You can reach me directly at jaegerleslee@gmail.com
Thanks Leslee! Let me know if you get anything going with Jennifer. Otherwise I’d be happy to share your stories on my blog.
I am interested in getting more connected beyond my small group of followers on my blog. Do you know what group your friend is working with – both NGO and midwives? You can email me privately at jaegerleslee@gmail.com.
Safe travels, Nicole. Looking forward to reading about your trip. 🙂
Thanks Sylvia! It was an amazing trip! Just trying now to play catch up but I am looking forward to sharing what I learned.
Four years! Wow. Congratulations, and best wishes for you trip to Haiti.
Thanks Andrew! Looks like you have been very busy painting!
Congrats for completing four years of blogging 🙂
It’s really nice to see that, you have always shared relevant and thought provoking articles from across the globe.
Great to see how people of Haiti is rebuilding their life after the devastating earthquake, hats off to the effort of globalmomschallenge.
Really great to see how much support you are getting from your family 🙂
Hope you have a great time and waiting to hear many interesting and positive stories once you are back 🙂
Thanks so much! I have a lot more to share! 🙂
Hello and thank you so much for this beautiful post , 🙂 Your story is so inspiring and its great that you have shared so much on your journey………I have been reading your posts ( am new to wordpress ) and for us readers its like traveling the world with…Please keep up the awesome job and wish you all the best for your journey 🙂 🙂 Namoskar!!!
Thank you so much!