Jump First, Fear Later

 *sigh* It's been a year and a half-ish since I left the awe-inspiring people and places of Gulu, Uganda. I hate writing that 'final' post in a blog or even a personal journal because it feels so definitive. Closure. But not in a productive, need it to move on fashion of a relationship's closure. In a sad, depressing, 'Is this really the end?' fashion. I know now that leaving Uganda was far from the end of my experience with Invisible Children and interactions with fellow world changers; being able to reunite at MOVE:DC (November 2012) and The Fourth Estate (August 2013) reaffirmed my belief that the strength of friendships knows no time constraints, lack of communication, or state/country borders. 

 Some of the best decisions of my life I feel I've made on a gut feeling. Some may call it impulsive. Some may call it reckless. Some may call it naive. I call it passion. To date, I've never regretted acting on passion. Invisible Children had a great campaign a few years ago with the tagline, "Jump First, Fear Later," embodying this very philosophy. I've always known we were a match made in heaven, but this just confirmed it. On the last weekend of our TeX experience we had the opportunity to act on this mantra, literally. And jump we did! And fear we did! As we fell 200+ feet into the Nile River from Jinga, Uganda.

The fearless... well, those that postponed fear enough to jump (left to right: me, Andraya, Jeff, Shockley, Lauren, Mark, Beth, and Jane).

Pre fear whilst white water rapids with my fellow Crazies: Shimmy, Shockley (so crazy she doesn't even need a helmet!), Andraya, me, Jane, Mark).

Embracing the fear (but still managing to pose for the cammies) on the Level 3 rapids of the Nile.

Perhaps in another year and a half you'll see another glimpse into my TeX experience. I still just can't bring myself to complete any closure from this experience, on this blog or otherwise. At the moment, I just feel inspired to write this post as I consider jumping first and fearing later as I transition to the next chapter of my life. Stay tuned...