When I started Living Unencumbered in April 2015, I made the tag line: Building a Life with Freedom.

I laugh at that a bit now. Freedom is what we had and determined to protect, but as the months passed, what we were missing more than freedom and free time was purpose. It is purpose that we craved, purpose in our desire to contribute to a greater good or affect an exponential number of people.

In our first post, we defined Living Unencumbered as eliminating the superfluous things that prevent you from dreaming of what you want to do and doing what you dream. That’s still pretty good actually, but after a year since the blog’s creation, my wiser self would emphasize the need for purpose. Today I define Living Unencumbered as the freedom to pursue your purpose, as opposed to merely reacting to the conditions and circumstances the world gives you. The truest freedom lies in our ability to pursue purposes that bring joy and ultimately, satisfaction.

I stopped writing because I lost purpose, or rather lacked purpose from the start. The prospect of rebuilding a life is entertaining, but when life became monotonous and routine, I didn’t feel I had anything noteworthy share. So while I could have written about mundane updates on our life in the meantime, after belaboring our sob story, I was waiting for that piece of news that said, “Everything is working out!” I was expecting it.

Living Unencumbered was inspired by life-changing circumstances, but every post does not need to deliver life changing news in order be engaging. While my story will always influence my writing, I don’t always have to be the subject. This is a huge relief.  

So moving forward, I will write with new purpose. I will write with a unique perspective, about observations of life during our adventures and pursuit of purpose. I will write to share small victories and lessons learned along the way. I look forward to sharing my thoughts about the world just as effectively as sharing news of my world. As long as I am challenging myself, I believe that I will have some words, of some value, to someone, somewhere.

So thank you to those who have asked where I’ve been. I have been so encouraged by your interest, and look forward to continuing the conversation.