The "Career" Part...

Okay, so I have posted on this blog a few times but haven't said much about the "Unconventional career" aspect of it and have touched more on the "life" side of things.  I guess it is the kind of story that feels so long and twisty-turny that I've been putting off addressing it directly.

As with most things, I think the best thing to do is start where I am.

I am currently pursuing a life as an educator, healer, advocate and artist. More specifically, I am working on building a career as a Sex Ed Teacher, a Therapist, an Artist and a Writer. Just typing these two sentences prompts a burst of joy and gratitude inside of me.

I will be starting grad school this summer - the program is for a Masters in Education in Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in Holistic Counseling and Trauma Studies. I am currently training with a sex ed consultant and in June, I will be certified by Planned Parenthood as a Sex Educator. I have also been a Certified Rape Crisis Counselor for over 6 years. I am a pottery artist and I recently started practicing henna/mehndi designs and would love to share both of these creative aspects of myself with the world some day.

At this moment in time, my main source of income is from my position as a Group Leader for a group of first graders in an urban, community afterschool program. I could say a million wonderful things about this job but in a nutshell... it brings joy, love, gratitude, connection and lots of laughter
to my life. And who doesn't need more of that?

Here's the thing... I spent the last decade fantasizing about this life. I am 32, going on 33 this year. I graduated college in January of 2005. It's now February of 2015. Whoa. What have I been doing for the last 10 years?! To finally be able to say I am pursuing the life I want, over 30. Here's the other thing that I will be frank about. I'm not sure if being single and childless is what allowed me to get to this point or if living life aimlessly and unhappily has kept me single and childless. HMMMM!

Anyways... the point is, I was living an otherwise conventional life up until this point. Sure, I was single and childless but I did my fair share of dating and even had a couple of semi-serious relationships (under two years...).  I had a lucrative career in business/IT, with a big a paycheck and amazing benefits. I lived by myself in great apartments around metro-Boston and I traveled a lot. I was doing aright for myself.

And then I realized I wasn't aright.

So I quit my lucrative job. I moved in with roommates. I made major financial sacrifices, and thus life sacrifices. Everything changed. I got real with myself and started trying to get it right. And it has been hard.

I'm skipping a lot in between but this should be sufficient framework for the more specific vignettes I hope to share over time here!