Of course, we’re still figuring out what that means, but that’s part of our exciting journey.

We know that to be “ordinary” is to live “with no special or distinctive features,” or “to be normal.” We also know that doesn’t feel great. Unfortunately, since the time we were kids, so much of our lives are calibrated toward normalcy, even as we secretly aspire to do something “extraordinary” with our lives. We are taught to play it safe. Do what we’ve always done. Blend in, take less risk, and avoid failure. And before you know it, we are living the same normal life everyone else is living.

As many of us have learned (especially in these crazy times), life requires a bold, new approach.

As the MEA imagines its next chapter of growth, we have come to realize that we must build upon our strong foundation while forging new paths that allow us to start walking to our own beat. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” For us, this is where the road to a “life less ordinary” begins—life on our terms.

How will you live a life less ordinary? Or, as the late poet Mary Oliver once asked, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”