gennean
 
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I'm Gennean, a digital content creator and wandering wild heart who is passionate about travel, a good cup of tea, Harry Potter, and keeping it real. You can most often find me writing all of the things on my blog, hosting a little podcast called Wild Hearts, and capturing beautiful people and places from behind the lens of my camera.

 
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» ✨G I V E A W A Y! To celebrate over 2,500 downloads of #wildheartswithgennean I want to do something fun, so how about a little giveaway? While traveling around Europe last year, I mostly relied on my phone’s camera with a wide angle lens attachment, which means that most of my photos from that trip — like this one — were captured on an iPhone 7+ with the lens. While I’ve upgraded my phone and try to use my “real” camera more since the trip, I still carry that wee lens around with me because it’s just so dang convenient! And now I wanna give y’all one! Here’s how you can win: 1. Make sure you’re following me! 2. Comment with your favorite show from your childhood! (mine: a tie between Lizzie McGuire and Boy Meets World) 3. Tag a friend or two or five who might want in on this giveaway! PLUS 5 BONUS entries if you share this post to your stories and tag me in it! Every comment, tag, and share count as another entry, and the winner will be announced on Monday, 2/25! Good luck! 📷✨
» It's taken years of learning and growing and falling more times than I count, but at the golden age of twenty nine I finally feel like I am fully leaning in, embracing all that's thrown my way, and really owning my story… mess and all. Some might say this would be “living my best life,” and I don’t disagree. I’ve realized that to do that — to live one’s best life — requires the hard work of admitting our faults, working through the hard stuff, and choosing to grow into the best possible versions of ourselves. In episode 005 of #wildheartswithgennean I’m sitting down with my friend @racheladawson to talk about just that: owning your story. With our shared passion for keeping it real, we chat about how to both embrace and work through hard things, get real honest about the growth and freedom that can come from counseling, and share how we have learned to — you guessed it — own our stories. Listen, subscribe & review on iTunes🎧
Also on Spotify & Google Podcasts — all links in my profile!✨
» Sometimes our path can be wide, in the sense that a good number of folks can walk alongside us in our adventures. And then sometimes our paths get tighter, and fewer can join us for the journey. My own seems to be narrowing lately, and while some grieving is involved in that process, I'm mostly okay with it. Because the truth is that I'm experiencing Love in new and exciting ways, and having more of that with less of everything else is a trade off worth pursuing 🙌🏼
» Happy love day from your resident single gal who's managed to fall in love in so many different ways this last year, with people and places and cultures and experiences. Oh, and with myself. That one has taken a bit longer than others, but we finally here y'all. 💕 Speaking of love, I'm going to be recording a new episode of #wildheartswithgennean soon on singleness, relationships, and dating, so let me know what questions you've got in the comments below!
» Here it is: a story — a small but important part of my journey — that I never really thought I would share so publicly, only because I didn’t think it was that significant at the time. As it turns out, I was very wrong, because what happened ended up propelling me into the hardest season yet of my spiritual life. I have alluded to the fact that my last year in Nashville was challenging, but until the beginning of this year, I didn’t realize just how dark it really was. I’ve danced around the facts in the past, mentioning here and there that it was a tough season that left me frustrated and disappointed, and that I couldn’t really let go of those feelings until I was in Ireland, all of which is true. But if I were to get a bit more granular with the details, something ugly happened in my last year of living in Nashville that ended up catapulting me into a place of questioning my faith and the Church. I was the farthest from God that I have ever been as a believer, and I didn’t even realize it. That’s the scariest part. Nashville: my story of spiritual manipulation and frustrations with the church. #linkinprofile gennean.com/blog 💻
» What are you afraid of right now? Real talk: I was scared of my drive the other day. Over 1000 miles and 16 hours in the car by myself driving through Arizona, New Mexico, and a massive chunk of southern Texas, and I was terrified. All the “what if’s” scrolled through my mind for the few days leading up, and the way people’s eyes got real big when I said I was doing it didn’t help. But in the end, I did it, and I made it to Austin safe and (mostly) sound. I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of scary things lately. Quitting a safe and comfortable job, selling my stuff, moving across the country, traveling Europe solo, deciding to continue the nomad travel life, etc. This might lead one to think that I’m super brave. Yeah, no. My fears still exist... but they seem to hold a lot less power. With each small act of courage — with each moment and situation that I find myself leaning on God to come through — my fears shrink, because each time I conquer one fear, the next thing doesn’t seem quite as scary. I think that’s how bravery works: it’s seeing the risk, acknowledging why it scares you, exercising wisdom and discernment, and then doing the thing anyway... and letting that become the spring board for how you approach any other fears that show up. Bravery is doing it scared, and trusting God to do His thing. Spoiler alert: He always does. 
So what are you wary of? What are you cautious to try? If it scares you, good — maybe that's exactly why you should do it 👊🏼