What does living intentionally really mean?
For a long time, I thought it meant choosing carefully. Making better decisions. Setting goals. Creating a vision board.
But somewhere along the way, I realized intentional living begins much earlier than that. It begins with a question.
Who told me this was the right way to live?
That question changed everything. Years ago, before I ever packed my bags for Costa Rica, something inside me had already begun to shift. From the outside, my life probably looked perfectly ordinary. I was doing what I had been taught to do — work hard, stay busy, follow the plan, be responsible, build a life that looked successful from the outside.
But quietly, I had started questioning almost everything. Not because I was rebellious. Because something in me kept whispering, "There has to be another way."
I remember coming across a line from Walt Whitman that stopped me in my tracks — an invitation to re-examine everything I'd been told and to dismiss whatever insulted my own soul. I don't think he was encouraging us to reject everything. I think he was inviting us to become curious. To stop outsourcing our lives. To ask, "Is this actually true for me?"
Because so much of what we call "our beliefs" aren't really ours at all. They're inherited. Passed from generation to generation. Collected from teachers, parents, friends, bosses, social media, books, culture. Until one day we wake up living a life we've never actually chosen. We simply accepted it.
Looking back, I don't think moving to Costa Rica was the courageous part. The courageous part happened months before I ever boarded the plane. It happened the moment I started questioning the life I had been told I was supposed to want.
Did I really want a bigger house? Or had I simply been told I should? Did success really have to mean working all the time? Or had I mistaken exhaustion for ambition? Did happiness really exist somewhere "after" I accomplished enough? Or was I postponing my own life?
The move itself was simply the visible result of invisible questions.
People often ask me how I found the courage to move to another country with two little girls. The truth is, by the time I moved, I had already left — mentally, spiritually, emotionally. Because once you begin asking honest questions, it's very difficult to go back to living someone else's answers.
I've continued asking those questions ever since. Human Design invited me to question the way I worked. Astrology invited me to question the stories I believed about myself. Travel invited me to question what "home" really meant. Building a business invited me to question what success looked like. Every question peeled away another layer of who I thought I had to be. Until eventually, there was just me. Not a perfect version of me. A truer one.
I think that's what intentional living really is. It's not waking up at five in the morning because someone on the internet told you successful people do. It's not buying organic food because everyone else is. It's not moving across the world because someone else found happiness there.
Intentional living isn't copying someone else's beautiful life.
It's building your own — one conscious choice at a time.
It's noticing when you're living on autopilot. It's having the courage to pause long enough to ask, "Is this still true for me?" Sometimes the answer will be yes. Sometimes it will quietly change the entire direction of your life.
A Question to Carry With You
Today, ask yourself: "What belief have I never stopped to question?" Then sit with it. Not to prove anyone wrong. Not to rebel. Simply to discover whether the life you're building still belongs to you.
Because sometimes the biggest transformation doesn't begin when you find a new answer. Sometimes it begins the moment you give yourself permission to ask a new question.
Keep Exploring The Art of Living
If this article spoke to something deep inside you, you'll love The Art of Living pathway inside The Bloom Pathway.
Together, we'll gently question the rules you've inherited about success, productivity, rest, happiness, and what it means to live a meaningful life. Not so you can become someone new, but so you can remember who you were before the world told you who you should be.
Because a beautiful life isn't built by following someone else's blueprint. It's built by having the courage to create your own.
Common Questions
What does living intentionally really mean?
Living intentionally isn't about choosing carefully, setting goals, or building a vision board. It begins earlier than that, with the question of who told you this was the right way to live in the first place — and whether the life you're building still belongs to you.
How do I know if I'm living someone else's life instead of my own?
A sign is when you notice you're living on autopilot, following beliefs about success, rest, or happiness that were inherited from parents, culture, or social media rather than chosen. Pausing to ask "is this still true for me?" is often the first clue.
Where do I start with intentional living?
Start with one honest question: what belief have you never stopped to question? Sitting with that question, without trying to prove anyone wrong, is often where real intentional living begins.