I am so excited to share some photos from the senior portrait session I did with my sister-in-law, Jenna. When I started dating Josh I loved that he had younger sisters, I have a younger brother and always wanted a sister. Jenna is a senior in high school this year, which is crazy to since she was 10 when Josh and I started dating. She is growing into a beautiful, loving young woman and I am so proud to be her big sister. I can't wait to see what the future holds you Jenna! You will also see a few photos guest starring my youngest sister-in-law and modeling pose assistant, Alayna.
I can't say that a Ted Talk has ever made me tear up because I felt like the speaker was talking directly to me. Until Today.
This evening I decided to lay on the couch and watch a few Ted Talks. I enjoy hearing about people's ideas, their research, experiences, etc. When I came across a title that attracted my attention I decided to take a listen. For the next 12 minutes I listened to Emilie Wapnick talk about Multipotentialites. It was like she was telling me all about a part of myself that I didn't know existed. Take a listen here.
In her talk Emilie Wapnick talks about people who don't have one true calling, who are interested in all types of topics, who dive passionately into one topic only to get bored after a while or find something else they are interested in and move on. If this "multipotentialite" doesn't describe me, I don't know what does.
As a child I did gymnastics, then dance, a year of basketball, a year of soccer, a few weeks of karate, I learned how to skateboard, I golfed, and more. I never became a true master at any of these as I eventually gave up and moved onto the next thing. The only thing that really stuck with me for years was dance. And now I am finding this pattern true in my adult life.
When it was time to apply for college I wanted to be a teacher and all of my electives in high school proved that. I took early childhood development, preschool development, psychology, and I got an internship with a 3rd and 4th grade class. Then I got bored with it and started obsessing over the music industry. My next internship was at a radio station and I wanted to be a tour manager. I wanted to live out of a suitcase, sleep in a tiny bunk on a tour bus and travel from city to city. I started college as a business administration major with the intent on transferring to Belmont University for music business. Well that never happened, I got my Associates degree in Business Administration and then transferred to a different school where I ended up becoming an art major (with minimal art experience may I add). I concentrated on graphic design, and eventually graduated with my B.A. in Art with a concentration in Graphic Design.
Flash forward a few years and I decided to get my certification as a birth and postpartum doula. I trained to love, support, educate and empower women through childbirth and the first few weeks home with baby. As Emilie explains, all of these passions that have eventually fizzled out or that I have put on the back burner do not disable me in my future career goals as a doula. In fact, I have found them more helpful. I used my small, but important business knowledge to start a business. I created my own logo, website and branding materials with my art and design knowledge. I not only am able to brand my business, saving hundreds of dollars from not having to hire a graphic designer, but I am able to understand and see first hand how interests, passions and hobbies are all able to interconnect and work together.
So I may not be a specialist in anything (at least not yet). I may have a wide range of passions and interests that I want to devote time and energy too. But for the first time in my life I was told that, that isn't a bad thing. I am sure I will find another topic of interest to become passionate about, I am sure it won't have anything to do with design, or baby's. But it won't be a bad thing. I am a multipotentialite. And I am darn proud of it.
From a very young age I have always loved babies. I loved my baby dolls and I would drag one around with me almost everywhere I went. I remember walking through the grocery store, my mom pushing the cart and I would be walking beside her carrying my baby doll, I would hold her during church or pretend to feed her on long car rides. Luckily, I grew out of that at an appropriate age but In high school I was reminded of my love babies through a child development course. Our final project was to take home a robotic baby for the weekend. The robot baby would cry when it needed fed, needed changed, etc. to get it to stop crying you had to hold a key to it's back for a certain amount of time. I loved it. I came in Monday morning with my robot baby in it's provided car seat, sad that I had to give it back. I loved the role of caring for a baby (even if it was just a robot) and I knew that whatever I did in life, it would probably including caring for and loving on little ones.
Flash forward another couple of years. I was just about to graduate college and was walking through Lancaster city with some friends when a pastor stopped us on the sidewalk. I got to talking to him and without me sharing any details of my life he stopped mid sentence and said "I need to tell you, that you will be a blessing to many children someday." Not only was I totally creeped out that he knew I loved kids and wanted to work with them but I was also honored that he felt called to tell me this. I am often reminded of that day and am always wondering what he meant by "someday" Did he have a divine voice telling him that one day I would move to a foreign country and open up an orphanage there, or that I would adopt or foster kids, or that I would find a career path allowing me to work hands on with babies. I don't know what he knew about my future in that moment, if he even knew anything. But I am very thankful that he shared with me.
With all of that being said, here is the news I am so excited to share with you all. I am pleased to announce that I will be starting a certification program to become a Birth and Postpartum Doula. For those of you who don't know what a Doula is, the best words I have found to describe it is a pregnant lady/new parent's best friend. I have also heard it being described as being like another mom. Being there to support, help, encourage and give non-biased advice on all things baby. My plan is to start with a focus on postpartum and ease my way into birth, as my schedule is not flexible enough for me to attend births at the moment. I am ecstatic to start training for this new adventure and am thankful for all the people who have supported me in this journey so far and for those who will continue to cheer me on as I go through the certification program.
