I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. We weren’t poor, but it always felt like we were struggling. So for me, it was less about what I did and more about how much money I made doing it.

At the time, the two professions I most closely associated with wealth were doctors and lawyers. Didn’t take me long to realize I wasn’t going to cut it in medicine, so I focused on law. Before I knew it, school was over and I was ten years into a career in health care that looked great from the outside, but was taking a toll on the inside. The money was good, but contrary to what I grew up believing, it didn’t make everything else better. Every day started to feel like a test of endurance and I started to wonder if maybe the cure was actually the disease.

By 2021 I was on the cusp of becoming the CEO of a company valued at nearly a billion dollars. The endurance had paid off it seemed and all I needed to do was take one more step to reach the top of the mountain I started climbing as a kid. Before I did, it finally occurred to me that the safe bet may not be the right one and I wasn’t getting any younger. So rather than set up camp at the summit, I picked a different mountain to climb.

There’s something liberating about starting over. The deliberate choice to be a beginner in something you know very little about, but are fascinated by, is both invigorating and terrifying. At 41, it’s probably not too dissimilar from being hit by a defibrillator. Now that I’m conscious, I’m less focused on the money and more interested in what inspires. Today and throughout 2022 that will involve documenting my travels through photography. Each new month will bring a new country and another story to tell. Beyond that, who knows.

When asked recently what I hope to find through this process, I responded with, “the antidote.” I don’t know if there is a singular cure for an uninspired life, but making space for the creativity that comes with being a beginner seems like a good place to start.