Blondies Good Bad and Ugly

In life, we’re born and then we die. Sounds harsh, but it’s true.  

In May of 2025, I graduated college with my bachelors in Journalism and Organizational Communication Studies. I spent that whole spring semester, and summer, applying for every internship or job on Linkedin and Indeed. Anything with the keywords writer, editor, publishing, or journalism in the description. I did all of that on top of working full time at a summer camp saving as much money as I could, just to land a job in finance. Freaking finance. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against it. I myself am just not a finance girly. I can guarantee that if they had asked me what an interest rate was during the interview, I would not have been offered a job. I’m much better with words than I am with numbers, even if my spelling errors say the opposite. (I said I was good at writing. I didn’t say I was a dictionary.) 

In the beginning I took the job because I was worried nothing else was going to come up. It was a last resort for me, you can’t get by in this economy with little to no income. After all, I had been praying for a “big girl” job, a stable income, for so long and after so many no’s, I would have been crazy to pass up the offer. I also would have never heard the end of it from my parents. So, out of fear, I said yes. I knew very quickly that it wasn’t for me. In fact, so quickly that after my second day, I called my sister and cried on the phone, telling her I made a mistake.

Fast forward six months later and I can confidently say I can define an interest rate. I can also confirm that I, while trying my best, am still not a finance girly. (And most likely never will be.)

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my car before work when I had an epiphany. It was a few days before the new year, and I had been grappling with the thought that I didn’t want to spend another year doing the same shit. (Pardon my language, sometimes strong language is needed to get the point across. Or I’m a bit dramatic but that is another story.) A pit forms in my stomach thinking that a year from now I could be in the same place facing the same thing day after day. It made me sad to think about it; the life I have been blessed with, I am not living to its full potential. It literally left a lump in my throat making it hard to swallow. I sat in my warm car, getting ready to face the stinging wind as I walked across the parking lot, when I was reminded of a video I once saw: a woman explained that when you die, your headstone–if you choose to have one–will most likely read your name, the year you were born and the year you died. That is literally it.

Of course this sent my head on an even more winding train of thought. Days went by and I couldn’t shake the thought that life could be summed up to a dash. One year, a dash, and another year. Short is often a word people use when talking about life. I’d definitely agree considering our life can be summed up to as little as a dash on a tombstone. So much life to live yet decades after you pass, people will see two years separated by a dash. In life, we’re born and then we die. That’s when I decided I will not be spending another year doing the same shit. I told myself I was going to start doing it for the dash. 

So what does a 23 year old girl think of when she plans to start doing it for the dash? She looks at flights, obviously! I had heard about this famous whale shark in the Georgia aquarium a few weeks prior. So, having been left to my own devices, I pulled up my browser and searched for flights from DFW to ATL. The first one I see is a $57 round trip. Are you kidding? That was God telling me to book the flight. I took a screen shot, sent it to some friends, and we had our flight booked that night before going to sleep. 

Doing it for the dash meant I was doing a day trip to Atlanta, Georgia to see that whale shark. (Obviously to explore the rest of the city, but really the whale shark was the selling point.) Now you should know, that flight was the cheapest flight I have ever, and probably will ever, book in my life. Did I mention was Frontier Airlines and I didn’t get to choose my seat? As a die hard window seat girly, this was a risk for me, but it is for the dash. And besides, when I checked in there was a chance I could be given a window seat anyway, right? 

The day before my flight I got the notification to check in and shocker, I was given a middle seat. Who cares? (I care, actually.) It’s part of the adventure, do it for the dash. Maybe this could be a meet-cute for my next chapter ya know. (A girl can dream.) Just as I was reassuring myself that a middle seat is not the end of the world, I got an email from the Georgia Aquarium; “Due to unforeseen weather, the Aquarium will be closing on January 31st and will reopen on February 1st at noon.” 

I thought it was a joke. It had to be right? A day trip planned revolving around this whale shark and now they’re telling me it’s not going to happen?! Well it was, in fact, no joke at all. I pulled up the forecast and it read “heavy snow”. Georgia just so happens to be like Texas when it comes to winter weather, they shut down. And, it just so happens that I planned a day trip there when mother nature decided to give Atlanta the coldest day of the year. But whatever, I kept telling myself I’m doing it for the dash. (The ticket was non refundable and a round trip for that price is scarce.) I was going to Atlanta with my friends on the coldest day of the year. We would have each other to keep warm. I definitely didn’t do this shit last year, so the way I looked at it, I was technically reaching my goals already. 

Eventually the coldest day of the year turned out to be a freaking blizzard. A blizzard by southern definition anyway. The evening before our flight, my friends thought it would be best if we canceled our trip. They didn’t want to risk the flight home getting canceled leaving us stranded in another state, and I understood that. 

There was just something in me that would not let me cancel my flight. There was a need to prove to myself that I was serious about living my life the way I want to live it. Doing things for the dash. Sure I didn’t plan on going alone, but I also didn’t plan to wait until I had someone with me to do new things with. If that were the case, I could be waiting my whole life. Yes, unexpected freezes are scary, yes visiting a new city with the chance of a canceled flight is scary, and yes doing things alone can be scary. But if it’s one thing I have proven to myself, it’s that I can do things alone. After all, if I made my way to and through international airports by myself in a different country, then I could handle the Atlanta airport. 

So, at 4:30 on the morning of January 31st, I walked into DFW airport to check in and board my flight to ATL. Only I went to the wrong terminal, so then I had to take the terminal link back to the correct one, terminal E, just to check in and go through security there and take the SkyLink back to terminal D to get to my gate. (Because DFW doesn’t make sense but, I digress.) I did all of that while I told myself to do it for the dash. Doing it for the dash also meant upgrading my seat to a window seat, which I was lucky to have the whole row to myself. A major plus for a long-legged gal like me. (I had to treat myself now that I was doing some brave shit all alone ya know.) 

A few hours later, I landed in Atlanta and got my day started. I did nearly everything on my itinerary, other than the aquarium sadly. The snow had come down all day and the 2 degree windchill was not part of the plan. However, I managed to make it work and still keep all ten fingers intact. 

I spent as much time as I could in the warmth before heading to something new. I explored a bit more downtown then headed to Ponce City Market. What was once the home of Sears in the 1960s, is now floors full of shops, restaurants, bars, and dessert places. I had some crazy good shrimp tacos at a restaurant called Minero. They had these handmade corn tortillas that were just so fluffy and perfect. 10 out of 10, would eat again. I am not one to walk into a restaurant and get a table for myself, but it was surprisingly nice. I was in a city I had never been to that was full of people who didn’t know me. I wasn’t worried about what anyone was thinking of me. I ate my food, read my book and enjoyed myself.

After a few hours at Ponce City, I did my final lap around the shops then got myself an uber back to the airport. I had gotten to the airport with just enough time before boarding started at 8. Only no sooner than I got through security did I receive a notification that my flight was delayed for two hours. Therefore, I had a whole three and a half hours before I was able to board. How many people can say they rode the Train Plane to, and from, every terminal and saw every gate in that airport? I can! 

I spent my last hours in Atlanta people watching in the airport (the best place to do it no doubt) and reflecting on my day running around the city. I was reminded to stir my cereal (if you know, you know). Every so often I forget to look at things from a different perspective. I get so tunnel visioned on the top, that I forget to look around on the way up. It wasn’t the plan to go on this trip alone, but in the end I’m glad it turned out that way. There is a part of me that feels like this trip set her free from emotions that had been pulling her back.

Maybe living for the dash means more solo trips are in my future? (I have yet to see that whale shark ya know.) Doing it for the dash doesn’t have to be an elaborate plan. It actually doesn’t have to be a plan at all. Maybe for someone it could be changing the plans or saying yes to spontaneous ones. For others it could be to actually say no to plans and stop pleasing others. Doing it for the dash can be taken in so many ways and be applied to different aspects of our lives. 

How will you be living for the dash? Will it be day trips or solo journeys? Could it be swimming with sharks or hiking an active volcano? Or maybe something a little less risky like asking someone on a date? Whatever it is, I hope it finds you and I hope you do it. Do it for the dash!