When you’re in your Camp Inca take time to reinvent yourself. You can become a completely different person. You can become someone you have never explored. During my time at Camp Inca I started a kill the rats campaign, we filled rat holes up with cement and glass so the rats would stop bitting people (not something you would expect a girly girl to be a part of). I also started a bakery to pass the time and to help other prisoners earn money to support themselves. Another pastime I enjoyed was with a Chilean girl, we decided to experiment with spa services such as scrubs and body wraps that we made ourselves. These are all things I would have never explored if I had never been in my Camp Inca.

Then theres the person you never thought you could be. Maybe someone a long time ago told you, you couldn’t do something or you weren’t good enough or you couldn’t afford it. Maybe a sport that you wanted to play, maybe you wanted to be an actor, actress, model singer or play music. I decided to be a step instructor for a little while. It started as just wanting to get in shape but others started following before I knew it I was leading it. I always wanted to be a model or an ice skating instructor growing up. Well believe it or not I was in the Prison Queen contest twice.. That was pretty hilarious! As an adult I wanted to do nails at a spa but everyone I talked to thought it was a bad idea so I dropped it. After my Camp Inca was over I went to Cosmetology school and have had my license now for  years and I also went a step further and now I am a Reflexologist. I read about reflexology while I was in Camp Inca.

Or the most important, someone you are meant to be. You have all of those choices. It’s not about yes or no, right or wrong, real or not real. It’s about what is your choice and what do you really want out of life. What makes you happy? Consider it your do-over. If only prisoners in their Camp Inca’s would only see it that way. God takes things out of our lives so he can make room for better things. Its a crossroads. One choice we all have is; where to live after our Camp Inca? There’s no looking back, Im moving ahead, Im moving forward. Take the time to explore where you should start fresh. When I left Ecuador I had the choice to either go back to California, where it takes a lot to get back on your feet by yourself (after 5 years) or to start fresh on a beautiful lake in Tennessee with family and start a whole new life.  It was a no brainer for me. I knew I didn’t want to go back to my old life. I thank God everyday I picked Plan B I got to spend time with my wonderful family that I rarely saw when I lived in CA. I also helped my mom get herself out of an awful homeless situation and moved her to Tennessee and now we are close again. I also married the man of my dreams that incorages me and supports me in everything I do and loves me so much.

I now believe God puts people in our lives, in his time, not always how we plan it. So be thankful for things that are out of our control at times. Thats when we are dodging bullets and come so close to more heartache and pain, kind of like the guy Neo, in The Matrix, the scene where he’s dodging the bullets literally. The first bullet is the hardest to dodge, but as he gains momentum and tries new moves and keeps moving, the bullets have no chance of touching him because he now knows what it takes to stay away from them. Not just dodge them but remove himself and go to another place where Neo is safe. In the end he stops repeating his mistakes and changes everything. The same applies in real life, not just in the movies.

Surviving Camp Inca