Helloooo my friends 🥰 Happy Friday! We are one week closer to summer.
Being a cancer sun sign, I really connect with the summer season and find such an appreciation for all things sunshine, warmth, bounty, and the spontaneous vibes that summer uniquely brings. My recent astrology session experience helped give me the language and validation to realize that.
This week, I am thrilled to be able to share some of my lived experience that has helped me come closer to finding my purpose. If you are a Manifesting Generator (determined via a framework called Human Design — you can check yours for free, you just need to know the exact time of day you were born) or someone who finds themselves bouncing between passions and interests, this one is for you.
Please take this as permission to reframe what some people may think of as “quitting” the moment you lose interest in something to being guided by passion and what truly lights your soul up and refusing to settle for anything less.
You may have guilted yourself (or listened to others guilting you) for “not being able to commit” or “getting bored too easily.” But it’s not about that.
It’s about giving yourself the grace to move between projects, passions, interests, jobs, and containers that truly align with who you are and what you value in a given moment.
What sparks true joy and meaning at a given time in your life.
What speaks to your soul and makes you want to go all-in.
While there is immense importance in seeing your commitments through, especially if others are truly depending on you, no one gives you a medal for white-knuckling your way through something that feels out of alignment or like you’re doing yourself a disservice by continuing — and just as critically, something that you are no longer able to show up to as your full self.
So today, I’m excited to air out the random—and possibly even bizarre—threads of passion I’ve followed over the last few years. All of which were an absolute blast while they lasted, and have led me to exactly where I am today in their own ways.
Welcome to my wacky life for the last ~three years. It’s been random. It’s been out of left field. It’s been freaking awesome. There was a point in the spring of 2024 where I had my full-time corporate job, and held THREE part-time jobs.
What’s funny is, I felt so invigorated and so excited to go to my three other jobs because they didn’t feel like work. I literally would have paid them to be able to do what I was doing.
Without further ado… In the past three years, I’ve been:
🧀 A cheesemonger behind a counter of over 150 cheeses
For about a year between spring of 2023 and summer of 2024, I had a part-time job at a large local independent wine store, which had a massive cheese counter too (genius).
After being raised on Kraft singles and shelf-stable powdered “Parmesan”, I took a great deal of interest in the Trader Joe’s cheese selection during college. Their brie was my gateway drug of choice.
It got to the point where I was reading books about cheese, spending a decent bit of my corporate paycheck on cheese, visiting creameries in the Hudson Valley on the weekends, seeking out cheese shops with immense dedication during my travels regionally and abroad.
So I figured (and with the help of a very pushy in the best way friend of mine), why the heck shouldn’t I just get a part-time job as a cheesemonger? So, reader, that is precisely what I did.
I had more fun than any employee ought to, and loved fully immersing myself in the cheese world. I even made cheese friends and went to a cheese rave at a warehouse in Brooklyn!! (Mom, don’t read that)
And then, quite simply, my passion shifted. You could say it fizzled, you could say I quit. You could say I gave up. But really, I got every bit of delight and awe out of that experience and my passion for the cheese world that I was meant to. So, away we go.
The throughline:
As Glennon Doyle says, “we can do hard things.”
I’d never worked in a customer-facing role before and was a bit terrified since my main job involves monitoring an inbox in a secluded cubicle all day. But pulling the trigger and applying for this job, and then actually starting it and sticking with it, gave me the confidence to recognize that I can indeed do hard things, especially things I feel imposter syndrome about.
🍷 A wine sales associate pouring glasses for a gaggle of the best regulars ever
At the shop as where I cheesemonger-ed, it was mainly a wine shop, and cheese was really just an add-on. The majority of the business’s sales came from wine purchases.
This shop was a in a close-knit, veryy suburban and affluent town in Northern NJ. The sales of both cheese and wine were impacted greatly by how congenial and helpful the salespeople were on the floor.
When the store manager saw how well I was doing behind the cheese counter, they asked if I’d be interested in being the “Saturday Wine Sampler” who mans a wine counter and pours tastes of the featured wines of the week.
I loved wine and exploring how one of the world’s great beverages pairs with one of the world’s great foods, so it was an enthusiastic “yes” from me.
I was excited to learn more, but afraid about the customers—some of whom were extremely wealthy and very discerning (read: snooty)—would ask me technical questions I knew nothing about.
I left for many reasons. The main one was because my passions shifted, and there’s only so much time in a day! Plus, the amount of free wine I got to take home (you can’t sell open bottles) was started to feel significantly unaligned with my health goals, and I’m proud of myself for recognizing that. Nowadays, I drink alcohol about 2-4 times per month, and even that I’d like to cut back on.
The throughline:
Guess what… I did get asked lots of questions from people who knew far more about wine than I did. Plenty of them, I did not know the answers to.
But I learned that when you are genuinely enthusiastic about something and lead from authenticity and the heart, people are more than happy to support you and share knowledge — and even buy your product.
And when the few snooty folks who don’t take kindly to a bubbly young woman with limited knowledge trying to sell them something and then they make it known, bless them. Anyone who acts like that is probably dealing with a lot more than you’ll ever know.
⌨️ The Cheese Coach: cheese blogger and content creator
This passion pursuit was truly a blast. Through my instagram—The Cheese Coach—and blog of the same name, I documented all of the yummy goodness that my time as a cheese & wine professional afforded me.
And, I even made a cheese friend in my area who’s now a regular ol’ everything friend 😊
The throughline:
I mean, I think my IG Reels speak for themselves lol
Before starting my Substack though, I went back and read through my blog to hype myself up and remind myself what a good writer I am. And I totally agreed with myself.
But even more than that, I remembered that I wrote every single bit of copy myself, without the help of any AI whatsoever to proofread or critique me! AI didn’t even exist for the average consumer (I think?) three years ago! I felt sooooo hyped after that realization, and it certainly gave me a jolt of confidence to begin writing Modern Faith.
🧘🏼♀️ A yoga studio team member
This was my first foray into a passion that had a spiritual component, and I absolutely loved it. I have always found that yoga studios with “regulars” who come in week after week have lots of exceptional vibes, and the studio I worked for was a great example.
When in community with like-minded people who are committed to not only their physical health, but furthering their physical and spiritual practices, you just feel that you’re in concert with the divine forces of the world.
Though I wasn’t a yoga instructor, I was stationed at the front check-in desk of the studio and got the students all set for class. In exchange, I received free unlimited yoga each month. I’d do it again!
The throughline:
Much of my journey to release the Catholic perspective towards the faith of my youth was taught by yoga teachers I encountered in college and in the years after.
I really don’t think I’d be where I am in my journey of spirituality without the amazing exposure I’ve had to yoga and all of my instructors. Thank you 💕
📲 A small-business owner for social media management
Last year, I was curious about a grounded, stable, and safe way to build up side income so I could eventually transition away from corporate work.
My friend owns a high-end travel agency, and she was looking for someone to run her social media. Since I’ve worked as a freelancer by word-of-mouth and recommendations in the past, I happily partnered with her.
If you’re curious and/or want travel inspo, check out her company’s Instagram!
The throughline:
Registering an LLC with the state of NJ gave me such ✨girlboss. I loved it. And contrary to what many creatives who strike out on their own may prefer, I actually love the back-end admin of running a business.
I love keeping spreadsheets of expenses. Drafting agreements. Staying organized for tax season. One of my zones of genius is left-brain organization, and I get to lean into it as a business owner.
👩🏼💻 A Substacker who writes about the journey towards a fully aligned, on-purpose life that’s uniquely our own
The throughline:
This truly is “my favorite corner of the internet”. Every time I pop onto this platform, I feel lit up.
By my own capacity to create.
By other people putting out their unique perspectives and gifts, who support others that do the same.
Substack will be one of my homes for the foreseeable future, and I am absolutely honored that you’re here 💫
All this goes to say that if you have something on your mind or in your heart that’s calling to you, that keeps popping up in your field of fantasy, something you daydream about… PURSUE IT. The more random and bizarre, THE BETTER!!
This is not a dress rehearsal.
We’ve only got one chance to, as Gwyneth says, “really milk the sh*t out of this.”
You never know where it might lead.
I loved reading this! What an amazing way to reframe a non linear journey. Grateful we connected on here, please take me as your plus one the next time you go to a cheese rave in a warehouse in Brooklyn <3
A cheese rave in a Brooklyn warehouse is genuinely not something I expected to read today, but here we are. I love the reframe of "quitting" as actually just following what lights you up and refusing to white-knuckle through something that no longer fits. Every random thread led somewhere :)