For me it happened through writing. Not the polished, finished kind, just the messy private kind where nobody's reading it. Something about putting words on a page with zero audience made me more honest with myself than I'd been in years. I think you're right that it looks different for everyone, but there's usually a moment somewhere in the middle of it where things just start to feel clearer. It sounds like travel gave you that. That’s a really beautiful way to put it.

@Abe Bray Honestly I couldn't pinpoint an exact moment. But somewhere in the last couple of years something shifted and I just decided to start calling myself a writer. Not "someone who writes" or "someone who's working on a novel" but just, a writer. And that one small conscious decision changed more than I expected. It's like the identity gave me permission to take it seriously, which eventually gave me the confidence to start the YouTube channel and the community.

1. Writer who won't quit 2. Nobody who meets me in person would ever guess I run a YouTube channel and a writing community. I'm pretty introverted face to face, the camera and the keyboard are where I somehow find my voice.