Women Wiser Than I: Dawn Ritter Fischer
Break on through (to the other side)
“Could it be that everything good, true, and sweet in life arises from the choices we make in times of hardship and heartbreak?” —Dawn Ritter Fischer
Some of the best periods of my life were preceded by tough choices I had to make during the hardest periods of my life. Now, at the precipice of another major life decision, I am comforted by these words and the reminder that on the other side of hardship awaits something sweet.
When facing challenges in my own life, I often like to read memoirs to see how other women have handled similar challenges in their own lives. Eat, Pray, Love is one I have gone back to every now and then, and each time I glean some new wisdom depending on whatever I am going through at the time. Another memoir I recently read, that I know I will revisit for its inspiration and reminders of women’s infinite resilience, independence, and strength, is Dawn Ritter Fischer’s Let’s Not Play Small: A Memoir of Divorce, Healing and Reinvention Through Solo Travel. Reading about how she pulled herself through devastating trials—cancer, a death in the family, divorce—and was able to reinvent herself and rebuild her life was both empowering and motivating.
It’s all too easy, when we’re in the depths of despair, to succumb to our circumstances and believe that this is how it will always be, that there’s no way out. We sometimes believe the water is deeper than it is and are too afraid to get out of the relative safety of the raft, even if it is riddled with punctures. In some situations, trying to focus our energy on anything beyond basic survival feels overwhelming.
And yet, even in those moments, there is usually a choice available to us—sometimes not a big, life-altering one, but a small, steady one: to keep going, to ask for help, to imagine a future that looks different from the present. Resilience isn’t always loud or heroic. Often, it’s simply the willingness to take one uncertain step forward, trusting that clarity and sweetness reveal themselves only in motion.
If everything good, true, and sweet really does arise from the choices we make in hardship, then perhaps hope isn’t something we wait for—it’s something we practice. It’s choosing not to play small with our own lives, even when fear is loud and the path ahead is unclear. It’s believing that what feels like an ending may, in time, reveal itself as an opening. And it’s remembering, when we need it most, that we are capable of more rebuilding, more becoming, and more joy than the present moment allows us to see.
🎧 Listen
Changing the Rules podcast, Episode 130 In this episode, Dawn is interviewed about her origin story as a solo female nomad.
📖 Read
Grab a copy of Dawn’s 2025 memoir, Let’s Not Play Small here.
In case you missed my interview with Dawn earlier this year, you can find it here.
💭 Reflections / Journal Prompts
Looking back, what choices did you make during a difficult season that later led to something good?
Are there places you’re staying put because it feels less risky—even though you sense there might be firmer ground just beyond the edge?
Who is a woman (famous, literary, or in your own life) whose resilience has helped you believe in your own strength?
What has a hardship you’ve experienced taught you about your capacity to endure or adapt?
If you trusted that something sweet could come from your current struggle, how might you move differently? What might feel less urgent?