<1> The Catalyst

I've often wondered what prompts people to make huge life changes; was it something drastically negative, a hope for a better future? I suppose I'll never truly know about others, but for us, that's exactly what happened.

It wasn't a big moment, an -aha- moment, in fact, it wasn't a moment at all. It was a succession of events that led us to moving to an entirely different country.

Chase, my husband, has always wanted to travel, as have I- We have gone to México and Jamaica together, so this time we wanted to go somewhere else, somewhere new, somewhere... right.

He kept saying "What's our breaking point?", after each lockdown, after each negative news headline, after each threat to never be allowed to leave Canada.

I always responded with "I don't know." And truthfully, I still don't really know what the catalyst was- it was a combination of everything.

We had been trying to conceive our SONshine for almost two years, when we finally saw the positive test, there was talk of a flu in China. Eight days later, the word "pandemic" was used for the first time. I had a PCR test in the hospital while I was in labour, mid-contraction. We spent those fresh postpartum days, alone, in our house, during one of the many "lockdowns".

To say it was isolating would be an under-statement. The lack of support, from our community not being "allowed" to help us was truthfully, devastating.

Our son was 4 months old when the wheels started turning, I was done living in a place that was going to trap us, whether it be physically or mentally.

As it happened, some of the people we had hoped to see during that postpartum time, the people we look up to and admire, some of them anyway, decided that they no longer felt safe being around us. Why? Their reasoning was because we hadn't received the jab...

What I'll say is this- an inoculation that is *up to* 89% effective and the receiver can still get and transmit Covid, would therefore not be a vaccine that affects the community, just the receiver, in that - they're *less likely* to die. While, this isn't why we chose not to get it, it's something that really bothers me. Why would I, someone who doesn't leave my house or see anyone other than my Mom, be a threat? Or my Husband who works in an office, 6' away from any other person, while wearing a mask all day? I assure you, we aren't a threat to anyone.

If anything, inoculated people are more likely to get us sick, as I've found so many to feel 'invincible' and resumed their lives as normal, without assuming each individual could possibly be an a-symptomatic carrier.

If you know us personally, you know why we made the decision we did. If you don't, I won't share the details as it's not *actually* anyone's business but our own, however I will share that it was a medical decision and one of us was told by a medical provider *not to*.

While a part of our decision to travel was influenced by being out-casted and not being welcome to see some of the people we love; It actually wasn't the catalyst. We respect people's boundaries, whether or not we agree with them and knew that at some point, something would change. That it wouldn't be forever.

I'm not too sure why, but during this period I had something stuck in my head, on repeat: As above, so below. It felt like "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." The end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one. I didn't fight it, we accepted this new chapter with open hearts and let the universe do its thing.

And so it began, the beginning of our adventures.

In 6 months, I packed up our home, sold all of our possessions and got everything prepared for our departure; while my husband worked 9 hours a day; while caring for an infant. It was so hard and yet it felt so right.

We maintained our routines, spent lots of time outside and continued living life as normal as possible, all while digesting the idea of starting anew.