Are You Ready To Blaze A New Path?

The last job I ever had to interview for was almost ten years ago now.

It was what I considered at the time “my dream job.”

Not only would I have my own art room to teach in — but also my own ceramics studio as well.

This combo was like finding buried treasure!!  I couldn’t believe that such a thing actually existed — an art room all to myself and a working ceramic studio?  Really!?! In a public elementary school none the less?

But yes, it was true.

And I wanted this job.  I really, really wanted it. Really.

So I wasn’t willing to play around or let some tired bureaucracy have their fingers in my fate.

Instead of completing the application, polishing up my resume, and dealing with some stressed out human resources person, I decided to contact the principal of the school myself.

I waited till school hours were finished and when the secretary asked who was calling I said very matter-of-factly that it was the art teacher for next year and I just wanted to touch base with the principal and find out  when a good time would be to come see my room and start bringing my teaching materials over.

Yes.  That is exactly what I said.  And yes, it caused a bit of confusion at first.

When the principal got on the phone she asked if there was some mistake since she hadn’t started interviewing candidates for the position yet.

No, there’s no mistake.  I said.  I know how busy you principals are, and how the last thing you want or need to do is find another art teacher.  So, I’m just saving you the stress, and I can guarantee you that no matter how many candidates you screen you’re going to choose me in the end.

The very next day I sat with my resume in hand filling out an application in the hallway of “my principal’s” office. We must have spent just an hour or maybe two talking.  I met the vice principal, the librarian, and a handful of teachers.  I even got to see my room and ceramics studio.  And then it all came down to this:

Why should I hire you, she said?

Because I want to be here for all the right reasons and I’m willing to blaze my own path to get here.

I was hired immediately.  She never interviewed another candidate and my principal even walked my application over to human resources herself that night.

But to be completely fair, it’s not just my gusto that got me the private art room with ceramics studio.

Under my art apron lied already a decade of teaching art, numerous awards, accomplishments, degrees that I could show for, and a pretty hefty list of “professional experience” as an artist that I personally thought was the real jewel in my pocket!

But if you’ve been around Dirty Footprints Studio for awhile you probably already know that I ended up hating that job with a passion.

No private art room with a fancy ceramic studio could take away the fact that being in a public school system was killing my Soul.

What I thought was a dream job, ended up feeling more like a prison.

I spent four years of my life teaching in that school.  Three of them were spent hating every minute of it–well not every minute.  I truly loved being with those kids and did amazing stuff with them.  But it wasn’t until my last year, when I decided that this was my life.  I started to ask myself: what if this was it?   What if maybe I never could leave here — and from where I was standing, I believed I couldn’t at the moment.

I had made my mind up that I needed the steady pay check, the health insurance, the retirement,  and all those paid “sick days”.

You see, that was the real prison I was locked in: thinking that I had to sell my Soul for that type of “security”.

It wasn’t until I started to challenge my own beliefs that change began to take place.

The first thoughts I was ruthless about shifting was the hate  I felt around being where I was.  I started to focus on the things that I liked, that I loved, that I was grateful for.  And yes it was hard. I had to excuse myself from certain people and conversations and at times it was lonely.  But I was determined to blaze a new path again.

But my reason for the blaze was no longer about reaching a set destination, it was about living a fulfilled, happy life no matter what was in my path.

And so here I am.  It’s been almost five years since I left that job.

But that’s not why I consider myself happy and successful.

It’s because five years ago I let go of the belief that it takes a steady pay check, health insurance, retirement, and paid sick days to feel secure and supported in this beautiful Life of mine.

It’s been five years since I stopped selling my Soul and started fully expressing it.

Are you an artist ready to blaze a new path for your life?

Do you have a creative vision in your heart that wants to come alive?

Do you dream of empowering others through the creative process but aren’t quite sure how to go about it?

Registration for my next session of the IGNITE Online Intensive is open!  We begin January 5th!

The IGNITE Online Intensive is a five month online program where women artists gather in circle to ignite their own unique creative passions and innate gifts into sustainable, heart centered programs and businesses through teaching the creative process and facilitating  transformation.

In IGNITE you will learn how to hold sacred space, teach creativity, and facilitate transformation in a method that utilizes your own unique passions and gifts while providing a nourishing, inspiring experience for those you are blessed to connect with.

IGNITE is NOT a training or a certification program.  There are no formulas to follow, structured systems to adopt, or  detailed contracts to sign.  Instead IGNITE is a journey devoted to helping each woman identify their innate greatness, grow more confidant as artists, and gain the tools to bring their own unique blend of passions and interests into heart centered programs and teaching experiences.

Do you feeling ready to let go of the beliefs that are suffocating your creative vision and blaze a new path?

To learn more about the IGNITE Online Intensive please go HERE…space is limited to 12 women.

Maybe one of them is you!