After 9 months of living in my dream villa in Bali, today I’m handing over the keys and moving to Australia.
This life in Bali was everything I envisioned. I‘m walking away from one dream to create a new one, but deep down, it feels meant to be.
I pictured this villa for months before I found it. In my mind, I saw a peaceful sanctuary. I dreamt of a desk facing the window where I could write, with a view of the leafy tropical plants and pool. I even sketched this room over six months before I moved to Bali, and I still get chills every time I see the drawing.
Last July, after viewing ten different places, I arrived at this villa and recognized it right away as my future home. There was a desk facing the window, an open air kitchen, and tropical plants exactly like I pictured. It was peaceful, vibrant, buzzing with life.
This private one bedroom villa in paradise was a fourth of the price of my studio in San Francisco.
After traveling to so many different countries around the world, I haven’t found a place quite like Bali. It was the place where I slowed down, learned to love myself, opened my heart, and found love.
Moving to Australia
Last year, I met my Australian boyfriend while he was on holiday in Bali. After many extended visits across the ocean to live with each other in both Bali and Perth (including one where he flew in and hopped my fence to surprise me), we decided to ‘officially’ move in together in Perth.
My love affair with Perth actually began 9 years ago. This “most remote city in the world” was the place I chose to study abroad for a semester during university in 2010. Western Australia became my home away from home – it was so exotic, raw, and stunning to me. And I always knew, for some reason, that I’d be back.
Almost a decade later, here I am.
I’m moving to Australia to be with my boyfriend. But back then, I couldn’t have imagined this would be the beautiful reason that brings me back.
There are no accidents. Australia was a dream that had been marinating in the back of my heart all these years.
Creating Your Dreams
I share this story because now more than ever before, I believe our lives are orchestrated. You are the creator of your life.
Your thoughts and feelings create your experience of life.
Then why doesn’t everyone’s dreams come true?
Because you create what you think, and more importantly, how you FEEL. If your dreams come with limiting beliefs rooted in lack (ie. I can’t, I don’t deserve it, I can’t afford it etc.), then your subconscious pushes them away as you’re trying to pull them in.
If you have a negative mindset, you keep having experiences that confirm your worldview. That is, until you decide to change your beliefs.
And there’s one more thing.
You must be willing to let go parts of your old self in order to create something new. This includes your old beliefs, identities, and even your dreams.
You may need to re-examine your definitions for success and happiness. Because for many of us, who we thought we were or what we thought we wanted in our early careers is not aligned with our soul.
Here are a few of the questions that have made me question everything:
- Is keeping up with the modern Joneses’ (working harder to accumulate more wealth / achievements / promotions / possessions / skills because that’s what everyone else is doing) worth it?
- What am I spending most of my time doing (or thinking about) every day, and does that align with my values?
- In what ways am I worried about what people think of me, trying to please others, or trying to prove myself? Why do I do that?
- Where am I being a victim? What do I believe are the shackles that hold me back?
- How do I really want to live my life?
- My parents have taught me that life is _____. Does it have to be this way?
Any time someone tells you that you should or shouldn’t do something, recognize that it is their belief and not yours. They may be projecting their own fears and belief systems onto you, and you don’t need to adopt them. [But do take their advice into account if they truly love you and have no other intentions but to be a mirror for you.]
You can change the patterns in your family, in your lineage. For you, life doesn’t have to be the way it always was.
It’s painful to question your foundational beliefs because they’ve shaped your identity and decisions over many years. But with each layer you shed, you get to the core of who you truly are and how you want to experience life.
This period of massive inquiry and transformation is often referred to as the “dark night of the soul.”
At this stage, you’ll experience major changes in your life. You might outgrow your career, relationship, friendships, or place you live because it no longer resonates with who you’re becoming.
For me, this meant letting go of my career trajectory in Silicon Valley, home in the heart of San Francisco, and comfortable life near my friends and family.
I wanted to play in another sandbox. Nothing wrong with that one. But I wanted to go somewhere else and experience life from another perspective.
When One Dream Ends, Another Begins…
Letting go of one dream, or one aspect of yourself, doesn’t mean you’re giving something up. I’ve found that letting go creates expansion.
You make room for something new. And often, you leap into a reality beyond what you could have imagined.
You can create your life on your own terms. You can change your beliefs so that there’s no need for tradeoffs. Most limitations are self-imposed by your belief systems.
For example, I used to think that by traveling and moving far away, I was giving up being close to my family and having one home. But moving away from my family has actually brought us closer. Through extended visits, we spend more quality time (and days together) now than I ever did when I was constantly stressed and working an hour away from home. And instead of having roots in one place, I have multiple “homes” or communities around the world where I feel like I belong.
Though I’m leaving Bali for now, my chapter there is not over. It will always be a home for me, and my adventures and projects there are continuing… But for now, I get to breathe into my new life in Perth.
Through the darkest times — from being painfully shy and hating myself to anxious, burnt out, and lost — I never stopped believing in the goodness of life. And over the years, I’ve been hit over the head with so many confirmations of the magic of the universe.
Today, I know that your wildest dreams are possible. And I also know that even without changing anything major in your external world, you can find deep contentment in your inner world.
To free yourself, change your beliefs. To create something new, think a new thought about yourself – and believe it from the core of your being.
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If you want to follow my writing, I share it more frequently on my Instagram @ashmi.path and Facebook.
You can read more about my journey here: I Traveled Around the World to Find My Greatest Journey Was Within
Love,
Ashmi
