Welcome Autumn, Welcome Change, Welcome Letting-Go

This time of year is powerful for making changes, I find. Maybe it’s remnants of the school year beginning. I loved getting new clothes and supplies. They all had their special smells: notebooks, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, and pencil crayons.

So it’s fitting that I’m starting a new job. I love my new job. It’s one I never would have imagined starting. I’m in a UNION!!!???? It feels like a real job. Not just another “joe-job”- I’m too old for those. This is a real job. It feels like solid ground and it fits who I have become.

As I move into this new job, I find myself reflecting on who I have been in jobs past. Being an actor for many years helped me attend to myself in ways I was longing for. I spoke text and people listened- they had to! I began to carve out a space around me that was my own making. I loved finding this freedom. And I was so hungry for this personal journey that acting supported that I was willing to starve for it. And when the desperation that goes with not knowing where or when my next acting job was coming from became too stressful I chose to go back to school and look at the acting profession from another angle- the role of the teacher.

Enter the next job phase of being a voice teacher for actors. Although this job allowed me to still be in the rehearsal room- which allowed me to be “in-process” with life (or text or music) and respond through artistic expression- it didn’t ever feel like a great fit. I worked very hard to make it fit better but in the end it felt a lot better to walk away from this job than to pursue it. This phase took about 10 years.

The next phase was going back to school to become and Expressive Arts Therapist. This journey brought together many threads from my past and held me in a way that truly excited me. I was exploring my creativity and in imaginative and thoughtful conversations with others. It has been a delight. And in the practicum part of my training, I fell into a job that really changed me. It’s the job I’ve just begun.

So I’m taking space to let myself be in the new job. I’ve put a hold on offering Creative #flow classes. It’s time to let myself be here for now.

Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving- if you celebrate it. Welcome, Autumn; welcome change.

Lisa