“So what do you do?”

I’m at a house party, maybe a 5 à 7, or networking event making small talk and inevitably, someone asks,  “So what do you do?”

A few months ago, I would have cringed at this question, feeling bad about myself and not knowing how to articulate what it was I was doing with my life..

Nowadays, I’m happy to say that I’ve gotten a lot better at speaking about what I do.  Why?  Because I’ve finally been able to accept that I function so much better when I have the freedom to be me.

I understand now that the feeling I always had as a kid about being different was not just in my head.  When I drew or painted, I felt connected to my art; when I wrote, I could feel the words resonate in my body; when I stared up at the sky, I revelled in the feeling of freedom and infinite possibility.  There was nothing wrong with me because I wasn’t as great at math as my siblings or Asian counterparts.  Just because the adults around me never praised my artwork didn’t mean I wasn’t bloody talented (I truly was).  When my sister asked what I wanted to be when I grew up and I answered “bus driver”, it’s clear that I simply saw life through a different pair of shades. 

So what is it that I do?

Well, for the moment, I’m mostly self-employed but serve part-time at a restaurant — I’d never worked at a restaurant before and I’m loving the low-stress, warm, and social environment.  While I manage the work exchange program and staff calendar at a yoga studio, I also offer personal Reiki sessions —  having a foot in this area of work makes me happy, since it’s very much aligned with my lifestyle and values.  At the same time, I’m currently collaborating on a few different artistic and entrepreneurial projects and have picked up a few odd jobs here and there like working as an extra on a movie set  — absolutely thrilling for the explorer and adventurer in me!

I feel at ease in what I do these days.  I no longer dread having to go to bed because it means having to wake up to go to a job I don’t like.  I no longer have Sunday evening anxiety.  Instead of working towards retirement, I’m working towards building something more sustainable from which I won’t need to retire because my work aligns with and complements my lifestyle. 

So I hope that answers the question.  And, the best part is that it will probably keep changing and evolving into something bigger and better. 

If you’ve got questions or want to know more, hit me up because I can probably go on forever talking about it!