Following Your Heart Changes More Than Just Your Own Life

Lately, I've come to understand the true meaning and importance of following your heart when creating a life that feels true and authentic to you. And it honestly blew my mind.

Ten years ago, when I moved to the US, I had already experienced what it felt like to go after what felt right, regardless of other people's expectations.

Growing up in a family business, I was used to just tagging along, working in the business whenever I had a free minute, and not spending much time asking myself what I really wanted from life.

And when I met my previous partner, I kind of fell into that same pattern of tagging along and following wherever his work would take us. It was exciting because we moved to a different country, and even continent, every year and a half. But I never really found my own way when it came to pursuing what truly fulfilled me.

So, it wasn't until now, when I moved to Bali entirely on my own and based solely on my own choice, that things started to make sense.

I wasn't moving for someone else or for a business. I was simply moving because this is where I feel my soul happiest. A place that I absolutely love. A place where I get to enjoy my favorite hobbies, pursue my profession, and see myself building a life in which I can truly thrive. And that's when I started to understand why it's so important to pursue the life you dream of. Why you'll never feel completely happy if you're constantly pleasing other people, holding yourself back so others can fulfill their dreams, or explaining and justifying why you need a change in your life.

There will always be people who don't understand your WHY. No matter how many times you explain yourself or try to make them understand, they simply might not get it. And that's perfectly fine.

Just don't let them hold you back.

Whether they support you or not, follow your own path regardless.

When my life changed drastically and, unfortunately, my 11-year relationship ended, no one in my surroundings could really understand why it had happened. It was hard to make people understand what I was going through and why I felt the need to change my life so drastically.

But deep inside, I knew I couldn't keep living the way I had before. I knew I had to accept what had happened and keep moving forward.

There was a deep sense of rootedness I felt inside me, and a connection I had finally found again by listening to my intuition and paying attention to what felt right to me after such a big change.

So I knew I just needed to keep following my path and go where I felt happiest. Where I could see myself building a life that felt more aligned with who I was and what I wanted.

Even if other people couldn't understand it.

At the time, when I told everyone back home about my plans, no one really understood. I told them that they could either trust me and support me on my new journey or choose a different path, which was totally fine with me. I would follow my own path regardless of whether I had their support or not. Of course, having their support would make the journey easier. But if I had to figure everything out on my own, then so be it. I trusted that I would eventually reach the destination that was meant for me.

In the end, everyone supported me, but I think some of them still couldn't fully understand my decision. Maybe, secretly, some thought I would come home soon and that it was just a phase.

But I didn't let myself get distracted by other people's doubts.

I followed my heart.

I slowly started building my life here in Bali. I met my now-husband, built a little home for us, had a beautiful little daughter, and started building our businesses while enjoying our lives along the way.

We have also found a beautiful community of friends who feel like family, the kind of community I had always longed for and never stopped believing I would find one day. They have become part of our village, embracing Phoebe as naturally as if she had always been part of our little circle.

Life feels very beautiful right now, and I could never have imagined ending up in a place that feels so aligned with who I am. I'm so grateful to be able to say that I've built a life that feels true to my dreams, my values, and my needs.

I'm happy in my everyday life, even when I'm not doing anything particularly exciting or extraordinary. And that was the goal. To build a life I don't have to escape from or distract myself from. To live a life that feels true to me, and not to anyone else. A life where my soul can feel at home and my mind can feel at peace.

And it was from this place that I started to realize something that honestly blew my mind.

The life of my dreams isn't just benefiting me. It's also impacting the people around me in ways I hadn't fully understood before.

For so long, I had tried to explain my decisions to the people I love. I wanted them to understand why I felt the need to change my life so drastically, why I felt drawn to Bali, and why I knew deep inside that this was the right path for me. But some things are difficult to understand when you can only see them from the outside. And then, slowly, something changed.

As I started building my life here, the people around me got to see it for themselves. They could experience the life I had created, see how happy I was, and understand what this place meant to me in a way that words could never fully explain.

And I realized that sometimes, you don't have to convince the people you love that you're making the right choices. You can simply live them. You can let them see you happy, healthy, and at peace with the life you're creating. And sometimes, that's what allows them to understand what they couldn't understand before.

It also made me realize that following your heart isn't just an act of self-love. It changes the way you show up in your relationships, too. When you're happier and feel more aligned with yourself, you have more space to be present, to love, and to enjoy the people around you. You stop seeking so much validation and become more comfortable simply being yourself. And that can make your relationships more meaningful, too.

Because at the end of the day, the people who love you want to see you happy. And when they see you genuinely thriving, that happiness can become theirs, too.

I've also started noticing how living differently can inspire others in little ways.

As we're building our home mostly by ourselves, figuring things out and creating things from scratch, I'm realizing how much joy there can be in doing things with your own hands instead of always hiring someone else to do them for you.

A friend recently told me how excited they were to be painting their staircase themselves instead of hiring a company. It might seem like such a small thing, but I loved seeing how the idea of simply doing it themselves had empowered them.

And it made me realize that sometimes, by allowing ourselves to live differently, we remind others that they can, too. We don't always have to tell people how to live or convince them to see things the way we do. Sometimes, the way we live our own lives is enough to plant a little seed.

And perhaps one of the most beautiful parts of this realization is that I've stopped feeling the need to explain myself. I no longer feel that I have to justify my choices or convince everyone to understand my WHY. I can simply trust my path and allow the life I'm creating to speak for itself.

And with that came a sense of peace I had been searching for for a long time.

Mental peace.

The freedom to live my life without constantly wondering how it looks to someone else or whether they understand my decisions. The freedom to make choices that feel right to me without needing everyone to agree with them.

Maybe that's a topic for another post, but I think this feeling is part of the freedom I've always been searching for and longing to experience.

Just living a peaceful life that feels aligned.

Without too much clutter in my head and with more joy in my heart. 🤍