"The pain will pass, the beauty will stay. Just hold on a little longer!" That's what I tell myself on the mountain when I'm out of breath and my legs are shaking. Later I realized that sentence also sums up the last ten years of my life.
At 25, I decided to leave the office
Back then I lived the same day over and over in an office. I smiled less and less, and was close to depression. Every day on my way home I asked myself: is this really the life I want?
Until one day I made up my mind: "I want freedom, I want to create, I want to find myself again!"
And so I started my own brand, Little OH! handmade jewelry. The first piece, the first market, the first customer: from that moment, my life became different.
Carrying jewelry through more than thirty countries
Over the next ten years I flew around the world with my jewelry to promote the brand. With a flexible job, I also became a backpacker, traveling independently through more than 30 countries.
Of all those countries, Kyrgyzstan was the most unusual and unforgettable stop for me.
This country hidden in Central Asia showed me a purity and vastness I'd never seen before: unpolluted air, the grandeur of the Tien Shan and the quiet of the Silk Road. The people are funny and hospitable, and their heartfelt warmth left a deep mark on me.
A wedding in the mountains
Once, my Swiss friend Angie asked me:
"You actually held your wedding in the mountains?! Riding horses, putting up a yurt: that's so cool!"
Yes, our wedding really was different. No church, no white dress. Instead we rode in on horseback, built a yurt with our own hands and wore traditional Kyrgyz clothes.
That day, soaking in a hot spring, I thought for a moment and answered: "Actually, it isn't that surprising."
Maybe it's the law of attraction
I've always loved minority cultures; my shelves hold at least thirty to fifty books about mountains. Stories from Taiwan's Indigenous peoples, Tibet, Yunnan and northern Thailand always moved me.
I never dreamed of a white wedding dress. I dreamed of standing among the mountains in traditional clothes, beginning a new life with the person I love.
Maybe this is the law of attraction: step by step, it brought me to Kyrgyzstan, a country surrounded by the Tien Shan, and my life turned to a new chapter.
Bek and I work together and imagine our future together. In this simple, grounded place, I've learned gratitude, and learned to believe.
The pain will pass, the beauty will stay
Life has so many challenges and countless moments when you want to give up, especially when your legs go weak climbing a mountain. But I always quietly tell myself:
"The pain will pass, the beauty will stay. Just hold on a little longer!"
This is my journey with Little OH!, and also my journey of making peace with the world and with myself. Thank you to the me who bravely left the office that year, and thank you to every miracle I've met along the way.
