Laura Dillon

Name – Laura Dillon

Age – 34

Where am I from – Melbourne, Australia

Where do I live – Chiang Rai, Thailand

This is who I am in the world

I am a Social Worker, Foster Carer, Mother, Christian, Wife, Sister, Daughter and Traveller.

I became a Foster Carer in my early twenties and devoted ten years to raising children and

adolescents, alongside having my own son and my work as a Social Worker in the Out of Home Care

sector. While the past decade has been tumultuous, challenging, eye opening, rewarding, and at

times traumatic, I am ready to move into the next chapter of my life where I discover who I really am

in this world and what I want for myself. 

Several weeks ago, I took a leap of faith and moved to

Thailand, with the belief that this is where I begin my journey of discovering who I am and what I

was made for. I hope that over the next few years, I am able to add further adjectives to the above

description of myself, as I feel I am still only just beginning my journey of self-discovery and

Acceptance.

This is the story I want rewritten for women

I am a firm believer in taking chances, no matter how crazy they might seem, and pushing yourself

out of your comfort zone. I have never settled for long into any one role in my professional life, as I

think we can be at risk of becoming complacent when we settle. And I have always feared the

boredom that starts to creep in when I am not being challenged. I have spoken to a lot of women

over the years who have expressed their desire for a change, or a dream of theirs they have always

wanted to achieve. 

Often people will say to me that they would love to be a foster carer but cannot,

due to A, B or C. And the same pattern has emerged as I was informing people of my move overseas

with my husband and son. For many years, people have questioned the impact of foster care on my

son, and more recently, the impact of moving him overseas, and I started to internalise the message

that his needs were more important than mine. 

As a mother, you would do anything for your

children, and what I have noticed is that my son is happiest when I am happy. So why is the message

given to women about motherhood not geared more toward women being supported to achieve

whatever crazy dream they have, whether they have children or not? Crazy dreams are where magic

happens, so stop listening to the little voice that tells you to stay in the socially acceptable box and

go break down some walls.

This is the story I want to write for myself

I have always set high expectations on myself, as most women seem to do, and I am my biggest

critic. Even writing this is difficult as I tell myself that no one will want to hear what I have to say. I

am taking a pause in life, from the things that were distracting me from going inwards and working

on myself, and am focusing on changing these destructive habits. And it is ok that I am not there yet,

I think we are all a work in progress and as long as we are open to growth and learning, we will

constantly evolve.