In 2018 I went through a mid-life quandary. Every 7 to 10 years, I tend to make a shift and pivot in life. I like to create vision boards annually, but there’s something about taking a big step back every 7 to 10 years to reflect on goals I set to accomplish. For whatever reason, this reflection had more weight. Maybe because I’m approaching a new decade (5-0!) What?! I have been thinking about the second half of my life, so I decided to write a book this time around. I was having conversations with girlsfriends of similar age. We were talking about life and asking, what’s next? Is this it? What else do we want to achieve in life or do in life or try in life? Who am I becoming? What have I left to do in this lifetime?
I wanted some inspiration and thought, why not interview women who are my age that have made shifts and changes in their life. What can I learn from them and apply to my life? What can they teach me? I reached out on social media to different FB groups, looked through my contact list and quickly lined up several interviews. In the end, I had 21 interviews plus my story. With each interview, I created a piece of artwork. I took me a year and a half almost to complete and publish the book through Amazon.
The biggest lesson I learned was that many of the women I interviewed did it scared. They hit a wall and went for it. They decided to take action and got clear on what they wanted. Many of them took messy action, not seeing the whole staircase, but a single step to take. Like me, many of them had to break through old thinking patterns and limiting beliefs. These are the exact things I had done in the past whenever I changed careers, took a leap of faith, and pivoted. When we stay in the same place for a long time, we can get stagnant. Do you agree? It’s not necessarily that anything is wrong. For me, I am always going to be that person who wants to keep growing, keep developing, keep learning.
The book writing journey was both challenging and rewarding. I feel inspired to continue writing or at least creating some type of printed book, whether it’s a book of stories, journal, or planner. Have you ever wanted to write a book? What would your book be about? I’d love to know! Feel free to send me a message. If you would like to learn more about my book, you can find it on Amazon. Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Painting-Your-Path-Interviews-Extraordinary/dp/1734453001/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Painting+your+path+Clarissa&qid=1588436018&sr=8-1
