About Kelsey McMorrow
“When I was 5, I wanted to be a witch. By 7, I wanted to be an international popstar and had already designed my tour bus. At 9, I wanted to be a dog.. Yeah that was a weird phase. 11 years old, I wanted to be a professional soccer player. At 13, I was ready to start selling my paintings to the Louvre. Then at 15, I wanted to write a novel and win a Nobel Peace prize. By 17, I knew I was bound to end up on “The Bachelor.” By 19, I opened my mind to being on “Love Island” instead. Basically, what I’m trying to say, is that I changed my mind more than I changed my underwear (I’m more of a commando girl anyway).
Now at 26 years old, I still have no clue what I want to be. The difference from then to now though is, I’m okay with it. I’m okay with not knowing exactly what I’m going to be when I grow up and yes I am a 26 year old that is still waiting to “grow up”. Because “growing up” means having a 9-5 job in an office, a long term partner who my parents love, a house with enough room for my future kids and enough savings to buy a car with money left over right? Instead I’m currently writing this after leaving my job at a Dude Ranch in Wyoming and before I move to Canada to work at a ski resort, have a love life that would make a monk break his vow of silence to laugh, am forced to use my parents address for amazon purchases since I change locations bi weekly and I am so broke I will stop to pick up pennies I drop. And honestly, I wouldn’t change my version of “growing up” for a single thing. Maybe I’d change it for a yacht, but that’s it.. Or a trip to the maldives.. and a private jet, but those are the only things that would change my mind.
This all began after I graduated University. I started interviewing with jobs in Los Angeles. Jobs that would have had me making 6 figures 5 years in. Jobs that would have given me medical insurance and possibly dental if I really nailed the interview. Jobs where casual Fridays meant jeans without holes and a button up with just the top button undone. On the way to the final interview for a job half my sorority ended up doing, I had a panic attack. I mean full blown panic attack, I was in the passenger seat while my friend, who was instantly regretting agreeing to drive me, tried not to veer off the highway while I was ripping my blazer off and yelling “they won’t even let me wear my crystals at this job! MY CRYSTALS!”. Needless to say I bombed the final interview by telling the interviewer I had some “wild oats I still needed to sow” and asked if I could take a 2 year vacation before even starting the job.
I spent the night after my failed attempt of getting a big girl job looking up “most fun jobs in the world” and buying a one way ticket to Europe to pursue my newest dream of being a tan bikini clad girl on a boat in the mediterranean. But as any pre adult post college person I had to call my guidance counselor for validation, also known as my mom. After telling my mom about my plan to move to Europe without a job and knowing anyone over there she responded “I’ve been waiting for this phone call. Be safe!” and with that, I was off to Europe.
That summer I went to cooking school in London, got yacht training in Croatia, worked as a bar crawl leader in Prague and a receptionist in Rome. By the end of my time in Italy I was over my European moment and was ready for bigger and more venomous things, so I moved to Australia. After Australia came Peru then Mexico then I decided to give Europe a round 2 then I moved to Asia and somewhere in between I went to Africa.
I made less than minimum wage if I made any money at all, but usually just got free drinks and food. I had no medical insurance and was paying out of pocket for the constant undiagnosed diseases I was picking up while traveling. I was working jobs where casual Friday meant the skimpiest outfit you could find and Friday was everyday. And I was / am the happiest I have ever been.
I gave up a stable income, for learning that money truly doesn’t buy happiness. I gave up having one friend group, for having a friend in every city around the world. I gave up a nice apartment in the city for bunk bed in questionably hygienic rooms. My point in saying the things I gave up is not to say the things I chose were superior, they were just the right choice for me. The only choice for me. “Growing up” doesn’t have to mean just one thing. It doesn’t have to mean having a career and life partner, but it could. It doesn’t mean traveling the world and being single, but it could. As a kid you, more often than not, are completely dependent on your family for everything. You didn’t get to choose what time you went to bed or what you were going to eat for dinner or sometimes even what you were wearing. Growing up is having choices of your own and making them. Growing up is learning to be yourself by yourself. Being Independent.
So maybe it turns out I did “grow up” or maybe I am just saying all of this to justify my own life choices. Either way all I have to say is.. Do whatever makes YOU happy and whatever feels right to YOU. Be your bad ass unapologetic self and don’t judge anyone else for being their own version of a bad ass unapologetic self. And to end on a cringy cliche that’s a cliche because it’s true, you only live once, so you damn well better make it the best once.”
