Sometimes trembling, but daring, still.

I've decided to start this blog off with a favorite, if obscure, quote from Maya Angelou. It's just a snippet, really, from a sentence right at the introduction to her 2009 book Letter to My Daughter:

My life has been long, and believing that life loves the liver of it, I have dared to try many things, sometimes trembling, but daring, still.

I heard Maya Angelou read it aloud on an NPR interview at the time, in her inimitable cadence, and it has stayed with me since. I've used it as a tagline for myself here and there, as it expresses so simply how I've often felt as I've stumbled through life. It's not a bad guidepost, as a life philosophy. All kinds of wonderful things are possible , if we only dare to try. And you don't necessarily have to be brave to dare; you just have to be willing -- and reasonably comfortable with uncertainty.

And so, I'm stepping off into my new adventure. Michael and I are finally returning to our adopted home this year, but first we're embarking on a big ol' road trip around the US. North to south, coast to coast, we should be hitting around 25 states when all's said and done, stopping in with friends and family along the way. And that journey starts with another prelude, at least for me, as I'm in Washington, D.C. for the 8th Annual Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Day, when I'll join a few hundred of my friends in lobbying Congress for increased funding for cancer research.

There will be more about all that to come, but for now, here's a little visual preview of what the road trip will look like: 

We'll be fine-tuning it along the way, and we expect some diversions off the path all the way through, but this highlights the main stopping points. It's going to be some trip!

Comments

[Stacy]

I am so excited for you and sooooo jealous. Have fun and when you go to San Fran, please stop by Pier 39. At the very end of it there is a candy store. They sell these things I call Fudgies. They look like the caramels you buy to melt for caramel apples, but they are chocolate/fudge like. Pick me up a few if you think about it. It's the only place I have found them in years.

[Raday Salon]

It's been absolutely great so far. It's something Michael and I have talked about for a long time and it's so amazing that we're actually doing it. :) Will definitely take care of the candy in San Francisco. -- Linda