Living Passionately

It's funny the places life takes you in your 20's and 30's.  For me, my 20's were about college, working in a traditional office setting, graduate school, getting married and moving back to New England. My 30's have been entirely about raising two kids :) Funny how you blink and a decade has gone by...

I've spent the last twenty years thinking about who I am, what I love in the world and what I want to do when I grow up :) It used to make me feel very insecure that I didn't have a clear sense of a career path. Somewhere along the line I convinced myself I needed to have a career or one big passion to be successful in life. Now, I realize that's just not ME and it's just not true.

So, about a year ago I made a list of the things I most enjoy doing in my free time, no matter how silly they seemed.  I think it was something like this:

1. Being a vegetarian (cooking, reading about it, writing about it)
2. Playing guitar
3. Singing
4. Reading about wellness
5. Painting
6. Working out
7. Dancing
8. Making people feel good about themselves

One day last summer I woke up and had an "ah ha" moment that I am an artistic person (what my mom has been saying about me since I was in kindergarten...I should have listened to you, Mom!)
and as a result, of course I was never happy in a traditional desk job and of course I found most of the classes I took in school to be overwhelming. It took me about 38 years to realize I'm an artist and I needed to find my own unique path.

Since I'm quickly approaching 40 (wow!) I have been thinking a LOT about my journey and what my plan is. My new goals are not about making money or appearing successful to people. It's about immersing myself in the things I love, surrounded by people who love me. No matter what people think (that is not always easy!)

I've been busy writing this blog (thank you for supporting me!) but there are some other things I take very seriously:

I love to paint. I especially love to paint boats.

You can see a small sample of my paintings here:

www.birdsnestinteriors.com

Over the summer I decided that I loved to sing and play guitar so much that I wanted to share that energy with the young people in town. I started teaching lessons in my house under the name "Nic's School of Rock!" If you look on FB, you'll find me there under that name and can "like" me if you'd like to get occasional updates.

After my first student, I couldn't believe I hadn't considered teaching before because it felt SO right. I looked back at my list and realized it touched on three things that were important to me: guitar, singing and making people feel good. Music was my first love and has always been my friend. Seems so obvious to me now, but sometimes we get so caught up in the details of our lives that we forget to immerse ourselves in the things that make us happy, no matter how wacky they might seem to others. And you know what?

Lastly, it's so important to have people in your life who not only *get* you, but also support you and cheer you on during your short time here on earth.

Stay true to yourself and you can't go wrong.