What Makes Us Come ALIVE?

It's a question I've been curious about since I was a little girl – and have spent much of my adult life exploring.

Through my writing. Through my work. And through the way I choose to live my own life.

Years ago, I came across a quote by Howard Thurman that put words to something I already felt:

“Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

I've carried those words with me ever since.

They've influenced the work I do, the choices I make, the stories I write – and some of the rather unexpected paths I've followed along the way.

This is a place where I get to share some of them.

Welcome to my world.

Annicken R. Day, author of Fly, Butterfly, dancing on the beach in front of Bali Ha'i, Kaua'i, Hawaii.

Following the breadcrumbs...

Life has a funny way of leaving breadcrumbs.

Little clues. Unexpected encounters. Feelings we can't quite explain.
Ideas we can't quite let go of. Places that somehow call us back.

I've learned to notice mine.
I don't always know where they're leading.
But when I follow them, I tend to find a bit of magic.

Looking back, I can see them scattered all over my life.
Some were obvious. Others made absolutely no sense at the time.
A chance encounter.
A job I wasn't looking for.
A place that felt strangely like home before it was.
A hunch that wouldn't leave me alone.
A book I didn't know I was going to write.

I've followed the breadcrumbs from Norway across Europe, across the Atlantic to America,
into the wonderfully unpredictable world of technology, through boardrooms
and corporate transformations, onto stages, into novels, across the Pacific to Hawai’i
— and eventually down a winding road in the Tuscan hills
that somehow became home.

None of it was part of a master plan.

Thank goodness.

Annicken R. Day with her book "Fly, Butterfly" with a beautiful view of the Tuscan landscape.

Over the years, I've learned to pay attention to what gives me energy.
What excites me.
And to use that as a compass when making decisions.

I'm intrigued by what makes me wonder.
What keeps tugging at me long after I've tried to be sensible about it.

Sometimes those breadcrumbs have led somewhere extraordinary.
Sometimes they've led to mistakes, detours and stories that are way funnier in retrospect.

We don't always need to know where we're going to recognise something that makes us feel more alive.

And perhaps that's what much of my work – and life – has ended up being about.

I write stories. I speak to rooms full of people. I work with leaders and organisations.
I bring curious humans together in Tuscany.

And I keep making choices that feel right to me, even when they don't make much sense on paper.

The novel "Fly, Butterfly" by Annicken R. Day in the sand in front of Bali Ha'i, Kaua'i, Hawai'i.
Annicken R. Day speaking on stage in Mexico City.
Participants of Chill Connect Create Camp hiking in the Chianti hills in Tuscany.
Annicken R. Day and the Pacific Ocean.

I don't know where all my breadcrumbs are leading yet.
And that's part of the fun.

And who knows?
Maybe you'll find one of yours somewhere along the way.

Come explore