Seattle Sorority: Sisters by the Sea

This entry will be a bit more like a journal entry. That’s how this all began in the first place. Me, just free-form writing to myself. A cathartic kind of practice to get out there what’s in here. I’m in my new bedroom in Boston. I say that because it’s so expensive here that I had to essentially find a *room that I could move into. In some ways it feels like I’m progressing in experience and trying new things, moving to new places, and in other ways it feels like I’m regressing; ie renting rooms. There’s a freedom in flying around and there’s an instability too. It’s what I was seeking, and some days I have to remind myself that this is a season - that it won’t last - so enjoy it for the experience that it is.

Looking back, I couldn’t have imagined what my life would be like now. I say this a lot, but if I were to take a snapshot in time one year ago, I wouldn’t recognize my life. Last year at this time I was just applying for Delta. I didn’t really have a plan, or a thought to be a flight attendant for my job, I was doing organizing at the time… But because I moved away from Nashville and my business that I created was “Neat in Nash”, I was in the middle of a re-brand. I sold my condo so I was able to have a buffer of money, but I didn’t want to be in the financial positions I had put myself in in the past, and so I wanted something in the meantime.  That’s when I applied.

My mom was a flight attendant with Delta, and years ago she planted the seed for me. Because we’re very similar in a lot of ways, she thought I would love it and be good at it. When my life fell apart moving to Nashville, everything outside of music or doing something inside of the industry felt like a betrayal to what I thought I was meant to do, so I rejected it, put it out of my mind. I tried so many things financially - working retail, eyelash extensions, getting my real estate license - I just felt lost, like noting would stick because it wasn’t part of what I thought was my ‘path’ or my ‘purpose’. There’s still something inside that longs and needs to be expressed, but I have learned that in order to (free) that side of myself, that part that longs and yearns and desires on a soul-level to be seen - there’s a survival side of life. And that’s the part that I’m learning how to take of and mend, not neglect.

Having this job has been a huge blessing. Mostly because I have been able to meet (and live) with people that just one year ago I didn’t even know existed - and now I can’t imagine not having them in my life in the ways that they have been. I went to Flight Attendant training this past February and ever since I have been non-stop with a group of girls that I’m so grateful I get to call my close friends. The 5 of us graduated together after spending 7 weeks in Atlanta, and then collectively moved out to Seattle where we chose to be based. We originally got an airbnb together that we were just going to temporarily live in until we all found our own places, but by the forces in this things that we called Life, a string of events lead us to having a storybook kind of summer together.

I call it our Nicholas Sparks house on the Puget sound - because that’s what it felt like. It was straight out of a movie how it all came about. We were walking in downtown Burien where we were living near the airport, and stopped by a store to get our friend a gift… She was going through a break up, and that’s where the string of things had their beginning. If it hadn’t been for her breakup, we wouldn’t have gone to the boutique for the gift, and if we hadn’t gone to the store for the gift, we wouldn’t have met Alicia, the owner, who in talking to us and asking about why we were visiting also asked “Do you all have a place to live?”. We said we did, temporarily, but we were looking for something more permanent - and that’s when we were offered the house. She text us photos and I remember when we were pulling into the driveway, I looked back at my friend’s Gabrielle and Katie and said “Act Rich” - because no way were we going to pull this off, but still wanted the opportunity to see the waterfront wonder anyways.

Cut to: the 5 of us moving in, having the absolute Sumer of our lives. It was the most seamless lease. We committed for the summer until August 31, and that was that. I know it’s easy to get disillusioned by highlights, and truly, mostly everyone is living behind some sort of charade for how it really feels behind the image - but I am telling you, the photos and the views that all of us were posting, daily, didn’t even do the joy of being there justice. It was a dream - we called the backyard our green screen, gasping every time we walked toward the side red door that leads into the kitchen - getting the first glimpse of the sea, the sound, and mountains in the distance….  “Can you even believe this” we would say. I created the Instagram reel to really capture the summer in its entirety because rarely do words fall short for me to convey beauty.

We were like Sex and Seattle - the summer sorority sisters by the Sea. Having the college 2.0 experience. With every return from our trips, as if they were comparable to classes, we would deliberate with our coffee and wine on the deck. We created a summer bucket list and crossed off things like “S’mores and a fire” for when we are all home at the same time - Catching up on our flights only the way we could… talking about the hilarious and frustrating the things that happened were while we were away in Bozeman, San Francisco, Billings, Hawaii - I mean how strange. We were coming home to this kind of restoration after having just been paid to fly around the country. Strange! But it brought us together and I can’t imagine it any other way. When I think about the winding road that has been my life, and I think about where I am, why I’m here, how I got here - for as much agony and heartache I have faced, in a way I can’t imagine it any other way. Because I don’t think there would ever be a life where I would not know these girls… where I would not be having these experiences, where I would not be writing and creating behind the scenes trying to understand and make sense of the mystery.

That’s the thing about strings…. they are what weaves together the greater, grander and more beautiful tapestry.

I’m in Boston now, at the beginning point of the next part of my path; another new chapter. Moving out of the house completed the Seattle experience for me. The owners are selling it, and that helps to bring us some closure in leaving. I don’t think that I could top that experience staying in the same city, so I decided to go to another coast all together. Who knows what’s in store, but I do know that I will always carry this summer in Seattle with these girls by the sea with me.

Love, Natalee