Entry 001 - The Space Between

Tonight’s Question:

What are you moving toward?

There is a strange kind of quiet that happens in between chapters.

When the page was riveting just moments before, and you flip it over expecting the story to keep rushing forward, only to find that the in-between is just as loud - but with silence instead of sound.

That’s where I find myself this week.

I quit my job. Normally I would give notice, transition out, do the responsible thing. But this was the kind of situation that required me to step away fully and immediately.

And that raises an interesting question.

What do you do when you have a plan - an idea of where you thought you were going - six, nine, maybe twelve months from now, planning and trying to be strategic… only to realize that the thing you thought was “sometime down the road” suddenly becomes right now?

Like, “Oh… that thing I thought I had plenty of time to prepare for? Cool. It’s happening immediately.”

I guess the truth is that I was always moving toward this.

It just means I got moved to the front of the line on my own timeline.

So here I am, sitting at the bar of a friend’s workplace, sipping on a Mexican Coke and thinking about that distinction.

The question isn’t really “Where do I go from here?”

It’s “What am I moving toward?”

That difference matters.

“Where do I go from here?” asks me to map out every step from this barstool and this bottle of Coke to wherever I think I’m supposed to land. It assumes I need to know the entire path before I take the next step.

And truthfully, I don’t fully know what all those steps are yet.

But asking “What am I moving toward?” gives me room to explore.

It lets direction matter more than certainty.

The goal hasn’t actually changed from the plan I had before - the one that was supposed to unfold over the next six to twelve months. The timeline just moved forward.

And focusing on what I’m moving toward helps me keep the destination in mind instead of fixating on where I currently am.

Which, technically speaking, is jobless.

But that’s not really the full picture.

Because tomorrow I start working part-time downtown with a friend who manages a place there. She knows where I’m headed. She understands the bigger goal.

That goal is complex and still unfolding, but at its core it’s this:

Vagabond Coffee Co.

A small micro-roaster and coffee education company

where people can find exceptional beans - 

and a sense of home - 

no matter where they are.

My friend understands that. She knows that when I ask for time off to do Vagabond things - roasting, building, experimenting - it won’t be a surprise.

I may not know every step yet.

But I do know the direction.

And for now, that’s enough.

Because moving toward something requires a different mindset than moving out of something.

If I move out of lack, my decisions come from fear.

Not enough time.

Not enough money.

Not enough opportunity.

Fear makes people desperate, and desperation makes us compromise on the very things we’re trying to build.

Now, to be fair, sometimes you simply have to do what you have to do. We all have bills to pay. 

Until someone wins the lottery, that’s reality.

But if you have even a little space - a moment to pause and ask where you want to be - that question can change everything.

It creates room to say yes to the right things.

And just as importantly, to say no to the things that don’t move you in the direction you want to go.

A mentor once told me something I’ve never forgotten.

“Never should on anyone.”

Yes, it’s supposed to sound like something else. And honestly… you probably shouldn’t do that either.

But the point is this: so much of our lives get dictated by what people think we should do.

Sometimes those expectations have nothing to do with where we’re actually trying to go.

And sometimes the bravest thing you can do is give yourself a little space to feel your way forward.

That’s the space I’m talking about when I say moving from abundance instead of lack.

There is more possibility out there than we realize.

Sometimes it just requires the courage to walk a path that looks different from what everyone else expects.

So tonight, sitting here with a Mexican Coke and a quiet moment between chapters, I’m asking the same question I started with.

Not where do I go from here.

But this:

What am I moving toward?

And maybe if you’re reading this somewhere down the road, that’s a question worth asking yourself too.

For the wanderers. Wander well.

- A Fellow Wanderer