Home by Abby Jacques

Many of you may be surprised to know that in the past 9 years, I have lived in over 10 different cities, 6 different states, and more houses/apartments/tents than I can count. To say it lightly, I have a vagabond spirit. I like an adventure. I like to travel. I LOVE meeting new people. And because of this wanderlust, seasonal life had a huge appeal to me. And for a long time, it was wonderful. I wasn't afraid to move across the country, I was able to work jobs I had never dreamed I would get to do. I have lived in states that I only saw in nature documentaries as a child. I have experienced things that so few people will ever be able to, and I have met SO many people!

I would love to tell you that my seasonal adventures were as glamorous as all of my social media posts described. But with ups, come downs. I fell into a pattern. I would get bored of one place or job. So I would start to plan my next adventure. Each time moving somewhere new and exciting, only to repeat the same process. The thing was, I wasn't actually dealing with why I wanted to escape each place. I was lonely. I convinced myself that I didn't belong there anymore, and it turns out that the high of a new seasonal job is a pretty great band-aid for loneliness… to a point.

Part of this cycle was constantly ending up back in Michigan for the spring and fall—“off seasons" if you will. There will always be something about being engulfed in the forest that calms my soul. The shores of the Great Lakes awaken a nostalgia of my childhood. My family went to the beaches of Lake Michigan every chance we would get. My mom could barely keep me out of the water. I remember hearing stories of how my grandparents met when my grandfather worked on the car ferries of Lake Michigan. In college, every celebration, heartbreak, new beginning, and longtime reunion were washed in the waves of Lake Superior.  The Great Lakes were my home. And so with each transition of my life, I had to go back, to wash in their waters, and remind myself that wherever life took me, this was a place I would always be welcome.

I continued to move, not realizing until recently that I wasn't moving because I wanted to find adventure. Instead, I was in a constant search for a new home. So far, the closest place I have found peace like I feel in the Great Lakes region is the wilderness surrounding the Tetons. After moving back and forth from Jackson Hole three times, I have decided to start my greatest adventure so far: putting down roots. I now have property, and am building a cabin, and have started my own business. I think through this journey, I realized that no place was going to feel completely right until I committed to it, embracing the worst and best parts. I can confidently call Wyoming another one of my “homes.” But from time to time, I still get homesick for Michigan, and it's crystal clear waters. That is why I was ecstatic when I received the Picnic Rocks Pendant from Beth Millner Jewelry. I haven't taken it off since I got it. It reminds me so much of home, and gives me an overwhelming sense of peace, even when life gets tough. It reminds me that no matter where I am, “home" is always within me.