The best advice you can give your kids...

So, instead of applying to design schools, I went to college & studied business/economics. Over the next 10 years or so, I had adventures, good adventures. I was a sales rep in the Caribbean, I worked for companies all over the US, and I eventually started making good money. Then, almost exactly 6 weeks after I'd bought my first house, everything was unpacked except the knickknacks and pictures, and it struck me. 

Deep in my soul a voice was saying, "I don't want to unpack, because then I'll be TRAPPED!"  I began to have fantasies of walking into the woods with nothing but the clothes on my back, because I was feeling trapped by my possessions.  

If I'd followed my passions and studied fashion design instead of business, starting with entry level jobs, then rising to next step, and then the next, over the course of that 10 years where would I be? Most likely, I would have been making at least as much money and achieved at least as much professional status (probably more of each) as I had in 10 years of "having a regular job" that didn't feed my soul.

So, 8 weeks after I bought it, I put my house back on the market, sold my car, quit my job & moved to Vermont to "make a living doing something creative," even though I wasn't sure what that looked like. 

One day I met a woman at our local Saturday artist's market who was making & selling skirts. I watched what she was doing and thought, "if she can sell that, I can sell SOMEthing!"

Two weeks later I set up my first little table at the artists' market making & selling chakra-activating jewelry and, from that first day, until the day I went on strike against myself (that's another story), my jewelry supported me. 

So, the next time you or someone you love has a "crazy idea," lean into it! 

p.p.s.

You are 100% allowed to change your mind, refine your vision, and pick a new path if you're not grooving on the path you're currently following. 

After 10+ years making energy-based jewelry, I knew I needed to bring these healing energies to people in different ways. 

So, I began offering healing workshops, corporate yoga, and eventually founded Seeds of Light to bring the mindfulness & self-care tools I've spent a lifetime learning & sharing to young people.

This little gallery illustrates my evolution as an artist during my jewelry days. 

On the first day I had a table & two chairs w tablecloths & black beans in plates for display. 10+ years later, I had a setup that took 3 hours to put & and 2 to break down, and dear friends & clients around the country.

I baby-stepped my way into a career that fed me & taught me in ways I could never have foreseen, and I will be forever grateful that I set up my little table on that first July day in 2003.

I am also grateful that when making the jewelry stopped serving me energetically, I decided to do something different. For, it is all of those things that lead me to where I am today.