explore your smart, empower your heart

When I was a young child, I never questioned what I was supposed to do or who I wanted to be in this world. I knew what I gravitated towards and I knew that  it was usually anything that offered me the freedom to use my imagination.  I made up characters in my mind who supported my beliefs in magical things and only wanted to create worlds that felt safe and comforting.

As I got older, the inclination to be creative and to be a daydreamer began to dissipate; going through the everyday routine of the school classroom setting added to feelings of inadequacy. I always felt as if I needed to keep up with everyone around me.  We were never taught that being artistic or creative meant having a different type of intelligence. We were told it was a hobby - something we liked doing for fun. It seemed that many of the subjects or topics that lit me up the most were not seen as something valuable or necessary. I went through school feeling as if Art was not even my subject of choice, but one I only wanted to focus on given I found the other subjects difficult. I never once assumed that my heart already knew where I was meant to place my energy. 

I wish we would have been taught that the subject that makes us the happiest and the most energised is the one that will sustain us. I am not suggesting that we should all give up on the things that we find challenging and only focus on those parts that feel easy. But, if I knew back then what I understand now, I would have accepted all the parts of me with greater kindness and awareness. It is my hope that more children will embrace themselves fully and not underestimate the power of their unique intelligences and what they can bring to not only themselves but to the world. 

“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” - Albert Einstein