How a Jacaranda Tree Made Me Quit My Corporate Job
In the summer of 2024, I took advantage of a generous work benefit in the form of an eight-week paid sabbatical. 32 hours after I logged off the computer, I landed in Portugal. On day ten, in Lisbon, I saw a jacaranda tree in full bloom juxtaposed against a white building.
I was in absolute awe. I had never seen such a beautiful tree and thought, "What else in this world is so beautiful that I have been missing out on seeing!?" I did not know that it was the exact moment I embarked on a personal journey of self-discovery and reassessment of my future.
One is either refreshed by a sabbatical or enlightened by it. I fell into the latter category. By Thanksgiving, I had reached the conclusion that I would not be able to figure out what I wanted in life if I stayed. So after almost nine years, I put in my notice and quit my corporate job.
Before I Had the Words for It
I didn’t know self-actualization was the goal at that time. I just knew I had this feeling of wanting more and wondering: can I be happy for the rest of my life if this is it? No, I could not. So what does this mean for someone who has valued stability over anything else her entire life? Whose decision drivers have come from a mindset of survival? Who has followed the script because it’s a formula that works?
I knew I was evolving, or on the precipice of. I could feel it even when I couldn’t name it. I could feel the boundary walls getting closer and, oddly, sometimes that would calm me. I could feel myself getting more comfortable with the idea of action. Wondering how to be smart about this. How to use this restlessness strategically.
Two Guiding Principles
I started 2025 with two guiding principles.
Pull the thread of curiosity: if curiosity sparked, I would follow whatever path presented itself until I was no longer curious, or I knew for sure I did not want to go where it was leading.
Protect my peace: no matter how much of an “opportunity” something seemed, if excitement lacked, or worse, if anxiety or negative force existed, I wouldn’t do it.
I am a heat-seeking missile looking for fulfillment, authenticity, and agency of choice. I am challenging old scripts and assumptions I have acquired over my lifetime. Perhaps it is age-related, or the transition to empty nester. I find I no longer have the same capacity for settling as I once did. I cannot talk myself back into another “should.”
Seeing that tree was like seeing a colorful bird in a gray world. I was activated! I felt curious, enamored, joyful, giddy, lucky, full, and liberated! I want to experience what it is to thrive. This is me, finding out.
If you’re in the wondering stage and can feel the walls getting closer, that’s exactly where we start. Book a call to find out if working together makes sense.
