The Farthest I’ve Ever Been From Home
“This is it. If I take one more step, it’ll be the farthest away from home I’ve ever been.”
On Tuesday, July 28, 2026 around 10 AM, I came to understand this Samwise Gamgee quote more fully. More specifically, I came to understand what this quote meant for me.
Canonically, I have been a quiet and shy person for most of my life, who loathes the spotlight. But one day, I had the idea to reach out to a local podcast—Community Builders (Chico)—and cold pitch a story about being a therapist, working with burnout, and the networking group I and my fellow therapists in Chico created.
Much to my surprise, Dorian said yes and Metric greenlit the episode.
A little under a month from the initial phone call, I found myself in downtown Chico on a Tuesday morning, sitting in my car at twenty-til-nine AM grounding, giving myself a peptalk, and setting my intentions for the filmed conversation that was about to unfold. “You don’t have to say the perfect thing, go have an authentic conversation and just have fun.” Wow. Words my child-self would have LOVED to hear.
As a recovering perfectionist, a camera in my face—a nightmare. I quit playing violin in college because I didn’t want to be on stage anymore.
But as the conversation with Dorian unfolded, I found myself actually having fun. I think I even forgot I was on camera.
And when the taping wrapped, I found myself back in my car unable to yet leave my parking spot, struck by the enormity of what this moment meant to me.
I had confronted and conquered my fears. I had faced down a dragon that wasn’t even on my radar at the beginning of the quest. And won.
A shy girl who loathes the spotlight just intentionally stepped into it and finally had some fun while doing it. And became the one I needed when I was just a young lonely girl growing up.
This year, my life has been full of these moments, these intentional strivings. It’s important we stay in touch with the places that frighten us. So that we can summon our courage, and face our dragons down anyway.
When we run from them, we may soon find ourselves in a small, boxed-in world that is hard to breathe or exist in. Facing our fears helps us feel more fully alive. And human.
And if you defeat your dragons, you can go further from home than you’ve ever imagined. You might become the one you needed. You might begin to truly feel that life does indeed get better.
