The attached is a chapter from my book titled Evolving: My Lessons of Self-Discovery,Evolving: My Lessons of Self-DiscoveryDenise Svajlenko available on Amazon throughout the world. Evolving is about my journey of self-discovery and all the lessons I learned along my path.

Cultivating Passions and Life Callings

I have always loved spending time outdoors. My discovery of nature began in my childhood at our cottage, when my sister and I would pack a lunch and spend an entire day exploring country roads and farmers’ fields. My happiest childhood memories are of playing outside, either riding my bike or walking on nature paths. I eventually joined cross country running teams because I loved running through woods and conservation trails and seeing the leaves change color in the fall. I excelled at running because it was my passion.

The snow and cold of winters were enjoyable to me as a child. My sister and I spent endless hours skating on ponds and I skied on hills and mountains with breathtaking scenery from the time I was about ten, until just a few years ago. My love of the ocean or a lake, being on water, is what appeals to me most at this stage in my life. In fact, we specifically moved a few years ago to be near water and we like to spend parts of winters near the ocean in the sunny south.

The first common interest that my husband Ron and I shared was our mutual love for nature and the outdoors. We hiked, biked, camped, portaged, fished, canoed, swam, skied, skated, and played tennis together. And we still do many of those activities today. Spending time outdoors is the “church” where I tune into my spiritual faith, also feeding my mind, body, and soul.

I love watching the birds and butterflies while walking along the nature trail in the conservation area near our home. It is also not uncommon for me to bike 30 to 40 kilometers along our waterfront trail. If I ever feel sad or down, I strap on my running shoes, head outside, and always feel better when I return home. My absolute favorite time is sunset. It is when I feel closest to a Divine force and express my gratitude to that force for the creation of all the beauty in this world.
I loved listening to music from a young age and always found it relaxing. Songs and music can take me away from my own negative thoughts and feelings and help me feel better. I particularly like country music, because I can relate to many of the song lyrics about real life stories. My husband and I listen to music together more than we watch television. My best date night is cooking at home, drinking wine, listening to music, and having a meaningful conversation with my husband, or going out to establishments and listening to live music with friends.

I started cooking again after I left my working career. I am not an adventurous cook like my husband, but I like to eat wholesome real food, so homemade soups, pasta and other one-pan dishes are my specialties. It is soothing to me, now that I have the time, to chop fresh vegetables and put wholesome ingredients together, to create a meal that is both healthy and tasty. Staying home during the COVID-19 virus has forced me to cook more and be more adventurous with trying new recipes.

I have always enjoyed reading. In my childhood, my reading provided escapes to new places. In my adulthood, I read to fulfill my lifelong learning quest and feed my curiosity. I believe that we are our best when we continue to be curious about the world and make it our mission to learn throughout our lives. I mostly read non-fiction and my preferred genre is biographies. I am intrigued and interested in learning how people become who they are. What is the life path of an athlete who wins a gold medal, or an actress who wins an Academy Award, or a politician who becomes president? their heroes’ journey.

I learned to play euchre and other card games from my grandmother Mary, and euchre is still one of the card games that my husband and I most often play with other couples. My mother and Gordon taught Ron and I how to play bridge, and we would play almost every night that we visited them in Florida. Bridge is a complex thinking game and I love the challenge.

Another blessing of COVID-19 restrictions has been my increased interest in golf. I have always liked the occasional game of golf, but played only once or twice a year, and not necessarily every year. This year, I joined a ladies’ league where I played with girlfriends every week. My husband also became an avid golfer, so he and I played together at least once a week, and we often join our friends for couples’ golf outings. Golf is the most intense and challenging sport I have played but it is also the most social and fun outdoor activity, particularly at my age. I have fallen in love with golf and plan to continue to play for as many more years as I am able to.

I am adventurous by nature and have a yearning to explore the world. My love of travel started in my childhood when we would drive to Florida. I became mesmerized by the palm trees and beaches, that were foreign to me. It was the first time that I experienced a life that was different from my own, and I liked it. My parents bought a vacation property in Naples, Florida, when I was about ten years old, and it has been my home away from home since then. Naples is where I have spent endless vacations and my husband and I have rented a condo ourselves for a month at a time, since semi-retiring. We plan on becoming snowbirds there when we fully retire. It is my happy place to go to.
Early in our marriage, I introduced my husband to travel by taking him to Florida, and I am thankful that he liked it as much as I do. When our daughters were born, we decided that travel had to play a major role in our family life, and the girls have flown on airplanes and cross-country car trips, before they even started school. We have taken our family on cruises, ski trips, travelled to islands, to western Canada, to Europe, just to name a few of our adventures. Every travel adventure has taught our daughters about different cultures and shown them how others live, as well as shown them beauty around the world. They in turn have developed their own passions from our travels. Being on water, whether it is an ocean or lake, is so peaceful to me and I have discovered where I choose to live.

My husband and I have traveled throughout Caribbean Islands, Europe, South America, the United States and Canada and there are still continents that we want to explore. One of the highs of our travel experiences was a bus trip through Europe for our fifteenth wedding anniversary. Last year, we went on a similar bus trip and toured Spain and Portugal. We also love cruising and have cruised through the Greek Isles, the Mediterranean, South America, the California coast, the New England Coast, and numerous times throughout the Caribbean Islands. I think I have been on at least 15 cruises. Several years ago, I purchased the book titled 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, and I made a bucket list of all the places that I wanted to travel to within the next few years. Our oldest daughter lives in England, so we have an opportunity to explore England and other European countries while visiting her. Our goal is to travel throughout Australia, New Zealand, Bali, and Fiji within the next couple of years. I enjoy researching and planning our trips almost as much as the journeys themselves. Anytime I can immense myself in a new culture and learn something new about people and the world, it excites me.

Lessons Learned: All my passions nourish my soul and take me to places where I feel true contentment. I know that understanding and experiencing different people and cultures through travel, cooking, listening to music, reading books, and spending time in nature, brings me joy. My true passions are so important in my life because I do not notice time when I am doing what I love to do. Perhaps I will discover that writing is one of my true callings at this stage of life. I know that my goal is to keep trying new things and finding new passions, as they will bring me joy, feed my soul, and may even lead me on my path to discovering new life purposes. Fulfilling my life purposes is the goal of my soul and discovering my real self