Judging me, judging you.

It’s weird how assumptions can be made about someone when there’s a definite lack of knowledge or understanding about the person. We do it all the time. We see a younger woman with an older man? Oh, he must be her sugar daddy, because why else would they be together. We see a down-and-out caucasian on a street corner pleading for a buck? Shame, look how they threw their life away. This world is made of judgement and we indulge in its perverse behaviour, simply because it’s easy.

In my case, I’ve been travelling quite a bit recently and have been sharing my journey around the world on social media. I love nothing more than challenging myself with foreign streets and new cultures - it makes me feel more alive and more radically charged than ever before. One day, a stranger who follows me on Instagram decided to pop me a text asking how I can afford to travel. “Are you a trust fund baby?”. I almost threw up a bit in my mouth from sheer shock, and found myself defending my life choices. If you know me, you’ll know that I made my world on my own. Old money is something I was never born with and I thank the universe for it every day.

During high school, I played the perfect part of an awkward teenager who wasn’t comfortable in her own skin, was mildly bullied and became more comfortable with staying under the radar. The person I am now VS then? Complete oxymoron. At 20, my mom passed away from an aggressive cancer that lasted only 5 months from diagnosis to death. I’m an only child, so naturally it hit me like a dirty hangover coupled with a ton of bricks. Watching a parent fight for their life at such a young age seemed almost unnatural, yet also left me with a new sense of perspective on life. I was always so scared of turning into my mother, but the truth is that I’m utterly grateful for it - I have her ability to laugh at herself and her zero tolerance for BS. Most importantly, she taught me to live with pure intent.

Life gave me the opportunity to live loudly, and I decided to make a song and dance out of it. I studied my arse off, “hustled” at internships (with the support of my family) and took every I chance I got to prove to myself that I was more than my circumstances. At 18, I had never been on a plane and one day read The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, which was based on the law of attraction. I created a vision board, with a picture of a plane, luggage, a watch and a girl dancing with complete fervour. This was the life I attracted through a seemingly impossible belief in what I deserved and what I already had. Abundance is everywhere and it’s our everyday choices, energy and frame of mind which dictate how we attract it.

If I travel, it’s because I earned it. If I eat at a nice restaurant, it’s because I deserve to. If I decide to take a mental break from my social life, it’s because I need to. I choose to design my life every single day, and I’m damn proud of it. At 30, I’m funemployed (until January), unmarried and completely immersed in the freedom that I have. And, if you choose to judge that, then have a good show.