The Ride of My Life: Joanna’s Story
Learning to Trust Fear, Voice, and the Courage to Be Seen
Some lives don’t move in straight lines. They twist, pause, leap forward, and sometimes feel more like a roller coaster than a plan.
In this episode of the FoundHer Series, Carrie chats with Joanna, a chapter contributor to The Embers We Carry, Volume 3, to explore what it means to move through fear without letting it dictate your choices. Her chapter, The Ride of My Life, is a reflection on courage, creativity, and learning to trust yourself even when the path ahead feels uncertain.
Fear as a Feeling, Not a Fence
Joanna speaks about fear not as something to defeat, but as something to acknowledge.
Using the metaphor of a roller coaster, she describes how fear often accompanies growth. The climbs are slow. The drops are fast. And the only way through is to stay on the ride. Carrie reflected on Joanna’s real-life examples of this truth, including moving to the Netherlands while pregnant, learning Dutch as an adult, and building a life in a new country. None of it was comfortable. All of it required trust.
Fear, Joanna reminds us, doesn’t mean stop. It means you’re stretching beyond what’s familiar.
Teaching Through Creativity and Play
Joanna’s love for teaching runs deep. As an English teacher working with adults, she brings humour, creativity, and play into learning spaces that are often filled with pressure and self-doubt. She shared how making learning enjoyable helps students retain information more effectively, especially when learning a new language. When people feel relaxed and supported, they’re more willing to try, make mistakes, and grow.
This philosophy extends beyond the classroom. It’s how Joanna approaches life, connection, and now, storytelling.
Writing as a New Kind of Vulnerability
Although Joanna is a natural storyteller, writing her chapter revealed a different kind of vulnerability. There’s a difference between speaking your truth and shaping it on the page for others to step into. Joanna spoke honestly about the challenges of translating lived experience into written form and how the support of editors and proofreaders helped her trust her voice without losing its authenticity.
At the heart of The Ride of My Life is self-acceptance.
Learning a new language later in life.
Standing out in unfamiliar spaces.
Being visibly different.
These experiences could have reinforced insecurity, but instead, they became invitations to trust herself more deeply.
Joanna’s story is a reminder that uniqueness isn’t something to smooth out. It’s something to lean into. When we stop trying to blend in, we create space for confidence, creativity, and real connection.
Why This Story Matters
The Ride of My Life is for anyone standing on the edge of something new, wondering whether fear is a warning or an invitation. Joanna’s answer is clear: fear is part of the ride. And the ride is worth taking.
Volume 3 of The Embers We Carry launches April 11.
“Fear doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. It means you’re on the ride.”
About Joanna
Contributor to The Embers We Carry, Volume 3
Chapter title: “The Ride of My Life”
English teacher specializing in adult education and language learning
Passionate about creativity, humour, and play as tools for growth and retention
