Today I’m speaking with Kristy Halvorsen, an explorer of life, a coddiwompler, and author of Perfect Unfolding. Where is Kristy right now? Kristy is living inside ‘Coddi’, her Airstream parked near Bradford, New Hampshire; her summer home. Coddi comes from coddiwomple, a word that ‘found her’, which means to travel with no destination in mind. Over time she has redefined it as travelling purposely toward unknown destinations, being open to limitless possibilities, and unpredicting the future. Coddi is no longer about the travel, but about living in a space of complete openness. How did Kristy get here? Before the seven‑year journey detailed in her book, Kristy was already an explorer. Her dream was to retire from the fire department and travel full‑time in an RV, but after chemical exposure at work, a long recovery, and an ACL injury, she realised she didn’t want to wait for retirement and, in her mid‑30s, she decided to leave the fire department. The first 12–18 months were hard and lonely. She didn’t yet know what she liked, but knew what she didn’t like, and the ‘tickles of her soul’ told her to keep rolling and see what happens. She left concrete jungles for forests, went off‑grid, and hired a coach, Michael, who helped her broaden her horizons. Slowly she began to fall in love with the life she was creating. In early 2019 she had her ‘pooof’ moment … a profound shift in how she saw life. Since then, she has never once wished for an apartment or a different life. Support Kristy has received Kristy references a line in her book which goes something like ‘everyone I’ve ever met and ever will meet alters the hem and fit of my soul’. She believes the openness and curiosity of every person she meets create the conditions for meaningful connection. Many people have changed her life and she knows she has changed others – sometimes without names ever being exchanged. We discuss how fear, intuition and role modelling shape our choices. I love where this portion of our conversation took us, highlighting how deeply mutual and subtle the influence of our role models can be. Roles, expectations and fears People often ask how she is not afraid. Kristy says there is no real answer, she simply isn’t. Fear only appears when she forgets who she truly is. Even physical danger doesn’t shake her sense that life, and even death, is okay. She believes imagination is a gift – and using it to imagine worst‑case scenarios is a misuse of that gift. She sees intuition as something we’re all born with but taught to ignore. Children live this naturally; adults can return to it. What’s coming up? Kristy believes that ‘it’, whatever people long for, might not require changing their life at all. It might simply be seeing the same life through a different lens. People often fear that following those soul-tickles will lead to chaos, but Kristy has found the opposite. Intuition takes the whole universe into account. She has met many ‘home‑free’ people who understand her way of living deeply. She wishes she’d had had a role model like this when she was young. Adults who follow their soul’s nudges become powerful role models for their children. If fear is the only thing in the way, imagine what becomes possible when it softens. Thanks for joining us! Nuts and Bolts * Come and play! I share fun ways to do that on my website events page, https://www.kaylockkolp.com/events/ * Speaking of fun ways to play, here is July’s workshop signup link, called Let’s Go Outside – Channeling What Your Soul Most Wants to Create. You can find out more about it here. * For just about a year now I’ve been leading an online community for leaders who are learning to give ourselves the same love and care that we are so accustomed to giving to others. We’d love to have you join us, if that resonates: https://www.skool.com/dreamers-and-doers-8465/about Cheers and lots of love from me Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe
