2012 Closing Ceremony- Part 1



So I am about 3 and a half weeks late not bad considering my record. I am a procrastinator. I am a master of getting caught in my head, thinking about all the things I need and want to do and letting it all just slip away with time. At the end of 2011, I decided enough was enough. I was done avoiding and I decided I would address the hurdles that came up on my path one by one. First thing was to finish my master’s degree. I started my degree in Experiential Health and Healing in Winter 2003. For two years, I attending every lecture, participated in every hands on workshop, read every book and then some. I built beautiful relationships with my cohort sisters and grew immensely.  Here is what I didn’t do: finish my internship, hand in my papers and final project. For 5 years, I let this big incomplete on my record weigh on my mind. In that time, I got married, bought a house, changed jobs, climbed the corporate later, traveled and coordinated Medical Education Programs and had a son. Even with all those other accomplishments, I knew I had to finish what I started and get back to my creative dream.

I called my program coordinator and set up a meeting to convince the director of school that I deserved a 2^nd chance to finish what I started. I explained to them all I learned and how I wanted to apply my lessons. I had a creative dream to open a creativity and healing space for women and girls and I wanted to pursue it. In fact, it was this creative dream that lead me to the program at The Graduate Institute in the first place. They reviewed my journals and my final project plans and gave me 4 months to complete my assignments. Finally, I had a deadline I was determined to stick to.



During the time leading up to this decision, I met Michelle Geoffroy, an Artist blogger from Illinois. I stumbled upon her searching the terms “studio for creative healing”, which was the name of the business I was working on for my final project. I read her blog the Creative Healing Studio and sent her an email telling her how much I enjoyed her artwork and posts. I asked if she would be willing to speak to me about her journey. She agreed and we had our first phone call of many. Michelle and I were Soul Sisters from the start. We talked about everything from books to workshops. We talked about our families and our dreams, how to balance them and still do the work we are called to pursue. She impressed me with her artwork, her Soul Work, her insights and her ability to balance that with a husband and 5 boys.



Final Project Cover Created 2011 JAK Google Word Cloud Created 2011 from Final Project Copy



After I shared my story with her, she offered to help coach me through finishing my assignments. We spoke bi-weekly and her prompting and guidance helped me without a doubt stay focused and get to my goal. With Michelle’s support I was able to tackle my biggest obstacle. My biggest fear was I wasn’t a good writer, I was not going to be able to express clearly all I had learned. If it has to do with art supplies I don’t have any problem, but words were not so easy for me. I was not a writer but to get to my goal I had to change this attitude and become one. I completed a couple of short term papers and my 80 final project, a book with artwork. I worked hour upon hour, dreading up old memories, reliving and facing my mistakes, and acknowledging all my accomplishments. For me it was painful facing the blank white, there was discomfort and I had to really push myself to stay focus and keep writing and creating. What came out was “Manifestation of a Creative Dream- How One Drawing Led Me On a Spiritual Journey to Heal Myself and Create a Space to Inspire Other Souls to do the Same".  What unveale itself is my discomfort was a story of healing. The beautiful lesson from finishing my final project was getting a bird’s eye view of the past 10 years of my life and seeing how every good and bad experience shaped me. I faced my pains, acknowledged them, healed them and walked out the other side bathed in a rainbow of possibitly.

Google Word Cloud Created 2011 from Final Project Copy



When I finished, a huge weight lifted off my mind, I had accomplished something big in my life. I could tackle 2012 head on with purpose and intention. I knew one thing, all the work I did was not going to go to waste. It was time to start to focus on getting rid of my blocks and focus on steps needed to open my creative health & healing studio.