What Comes Next? Part One

As I draw near to the end of my degree, I can see the doorway in the distance.

For so many years, my life has revolved around study. Now, standing this close to the finish line, I find myself asking a question I hadn't really anticipated.

What comes next?

The obvious answer is practice. After all, that has been the goal all along. To finally step into the work I've been studying towards and begin helping people in a way that feels deeply aligned with who I am.

Though perhaps "all along" isn't entirely accurate.

The road here hasn't been straight.

I first enrolled in Naturopathy back in 2016.

At the time, the thought of travelling to campus and spending so much time away from my family felt overwhelming, so I made the difficult decision to step away from that path and instead completed a Bachelor of Complementary Medicine online, graduating in 2019.

Then came another beginning.

In 2020, during a global pandemic and what would become one of the most significant health journeys of my life, I returned to study Naturopathy part-time.

What followed were years of balancing family, life, health, and study.

Years of slowly, steadily moving towards a dream.

Looking back now, I can see that what felt like a change in direction was never really a departure from the path at all.

When I stepped away from Naturopathy and chose to complete my Bachelor of Complementary Medicine online, I thought I was choosing a different route.

What I couldn't have known then, was what that change in direction would give me.

The friendships.

The experiences.

My Yaya sisters.

Women who became part of my story in ways I never could have anticipated, forming connections that not even illness, distance, or time could erase.

And had I completed my clinic hours in a different season, I wouldn't have crossed paths with the people who have become such an important part of this chapter, forming friendships that arrived unexpectedly and somehow feel as though they were always meant to be there.

It's funny how life works like that.

We spend so much time worrying about whether we're on the right path, only to realise years later that the twists and turns were part of the path all along.

And apparently, I have more to say...

So, Part II it is.

No steak knives included, sorry.

Although, perhaps there are.

You'll have to read the next part to find out.

LLP, Tash xo