LEAP OF FAITH

Magda Johnson, photo by Kristen Turner MacDonald

It’s flippin’ terrifying to carve out a new path for yourself. Whether it be new career, hobby, relationship, or move - we all wonder if it’s all worth it. We want to know we’ll succeed in all that we do and know, right then and there, that our decision is the right one. We need to know that everything will be o.k. if we fail. and because of this we hesitate changing our course in life. That’s just from our own introspection. And God forbid Karen has anything to say about it! But what if we all just took a leap of faith and tuned out all of those voices and just DID?

When an event, good or bad, that is so life changing happens, we all begin to question the path we’ve carried on for however many years. Whatever the event may be- a shift in a relationship, a stagnant career, a new member to a family, or the loss of one - there comes a point where we reflect on where we had been and where we want to go. I think some people call this an existential crisis - but what if it’s our body telling us that we need to realign our actions with our beliefs and passions? No matter who you are, you come to a point where there’s this subconscious shift and your soul seeks something more nourishing.

For me, after years of teaching then becoming a stay-at-home mom, I began to feel the push for change. For something that would acknowledge and satisfy my creative side. It was the very beginning of what we all know as ‘pandemic cabin fever’ when I re-discovered my mom’s paintbrushes sitting in the back of my furnace room.

I sold my first painting at the end of 2019 - just a few short months after I began painting. It was a combination of wanting to find my identity again and listening to that gut instinct that always told me I was meant to be a creative. Do something different. Go against the grain. To carve out a new path for myself. We all have that feeling... it’s just a matter of deciding when and how to act on it.

Who knew that me deciding to pick up a paint brush would amount to this creative journey and endeavour. So - if you’re reading this and you have that urge to create, do, or build something from the bottom up- DO IT - regardless of whether or not you think you are qualified. Take the job. Make the move. Start up what you’ve been thinking about for all those years. Dive deeper into what your instincts are trying to tell you. Because let me tell you - It’s worth a try.

xo MJ