Hola gorgeous Goddesses!

Today’s post is a Video Ask Goddess Leonie! Wahoo!

I was recently asked by a creative & soulful young goddess for career guidance. She wanted to know what I did as a job after I left school or college, and how I got to be doing the things I am doing now.

Here’s my video response… below is also some of my notes on the subject for anyone who wants more goss 🙂

Leonie’s Way Long Career Guidance Notes

{Eat and Pray}

When I left school, I was a bit frazzled after boarding school and exams and study. I needed some time to reintegrate, so I went and lived in Malaysia for a couple of months on my own as an exchange student. It was a completely wonderful experience to get out of my head and comfort zone and find myself again (whilst alone in a foreign, non-English speaking country). I ate a lot of durian and mangosteens and went to the movies and read a lot. I went to a lot of mosques and temples, stayed in tiny villages and big cities, and got really into Buddhism. It was really precious.

{Then, Love}

I moved back to my hometown afterwards to rest and connect back with my family and get back to myself again. I’d been at boarding school for two years and I just needed to be home on the farm with my horses and dog again, to eat biscuits and cheese at sunset under the tree everyday. I planned on moving back to the big city after a year to go to university, but life happened to me and it changed all my plans.

I fell in love with an older man at my workplace. He was the most beautiful man I’d ever laid eyes on. And he just happened to be Chris. And we were so enamoured with each other we moved in together after a month. My life plans got changed, because there wasn’t just a Me anymore. There was a Me & My Most Beautiful Man In The World.

{The town named after a town is bound to be stupid}

A year later, we moved to a city called Townsville that was near my home town and I went to university for six months. We really didn’t like it there. Any town that is named TownTown is going to be stupid. That’s the best piece of wisdom I can ever share. hee hee hee!

{Sacred note: I’m sure Town-Town is just fine for other people. But it made it really clear to me that I wasn’t meant to be there. Places have a funny way of doing that.}

{Home again, home again jiggity jig}

We ended up packing back up and moving home to save some money.

So I worked as a receptionist and legal secretary and did university part time by distance education while we were saving money. We stayed in a tiny flat and I was bored but we had this crazy idea to move across the country to a city neither of us had been to before.

The only two things I can remember from that time is this:

1. University studies kept me sane in an otherwise boring job. I studied Australian Aboriginal studies and Journalism part time and they made me dream dream dream of my passions. You always have to feel like you are moving towards your big beautiful dream, I think 🙂

2. Our flat was at the end, and our patio and tiny patch of grass was secluded. A big mango tree stood at the end. One night, there was a wild lightning storm, and I jumped out of the shower and ran outside to dance beneath the soaking, gloaming, crashing sky. It was magnificent.

{Taking a giant leap}

We barely had the money to move, but my brother lent us money. I quit my job, we packed up our car Georgia with all our possessions and drove across the country for four days.

It was one crazy giant leap to take.

Somehow, it worked so beautifully.

In three days, I was a receptionist in a government agency. And then I fell into a website editing role. And it was so lovely there I never left.

And Chris found his own thing, and we found a cottage to rent. And it was so lovely we never left there either, we ended up buying it.

{But what was Leonie really doing?}

I had a job. And a house. And an amazing partner.

And I was still working out what I wanted to do.

I kept studying at university part time for a couple of years while I was working. I was so passionate and LOVED sooooo many things that in the end I ended up taking 12 different topics at three different universities.

I studied:

journalism

and lots of other things.

And in the meantime, I kept on playing around with things I was interested in – I loved spirituality and books. I painted and created for fun. I started going to women’s circles, which totally changed my life. I spent a month writing a little journal book I called “Today I grew like a wildflower.” I shared what I was creating with other people through blogs and forums and I started getting commissions and it was really fun. It was just my fun side project that I did when I wasn’t working or studying or being totally in love.

And then one day, I was walking back to work after an art history lecture, and I thought:

This is close to what I love, but it isn’t what I love. Why am I studying what art other people make when I just want to make my own art and do my thing?

{Micro leaping towards my dreams}

So I stopped going to university. At first it was just for six months, but then a year rolled by. And I just didn’t miss it.

I kept on creating and working out what I wanted to do and sharing it, and eventually I had enough creativity business that I asked at work if I could only work four days a week. And then two years later, I got so busy again that I asked if I could only work three days a week. I just keep working less hours there when I have enough abundance and business ju-ju to work for myself.

{The Path of Getting Here}

When I was in high school, there was nothing in the job books about what I’m doing now. It’s not like I was thinking “When I grow up, I want to be a sacred goddess guide!” I wanted to do something creative. I knew it would be different. I knew I wanted to help people change and grow.

So my path has been finding a way that I can share that, and that other gorgeous souls can benefit from that. It’s a path of evolving and changing and tweaking and growing. It’s the hugest job I’ve ever had – learning how to Be Leonie and share my wisdom and gifts with the world. I think it’s the job that we all have.

Leonie’s Tips for Creating Your Beautiful Career

1. You don’t have to know everything right now. It will come to you. And you’ll continue tweaking and shifting and learning as you go. There are some creative and sacred things I loved doing a year ago that I don’t at the moment, and I want to try out other things.

2. Treat your occupation as being the best you you can be. Try out all your interests and passions. See what really calls to you. Know that there are so many ways for you to start building a business around that.

3. Cubicle jobs don’t have to be doomsday. They can be an amazing help in giving you some income while you play and try things out without freaking out about making all the money you need from playing. Have fun with it, and make your cubicle job as fun as you can. Enjoy yourself and enjoy the people you are around.

4. There are so so so many opportunities now to make a living being you. It takes time. It takes education. It takes courage and discipline. It also is a whole lot of fun. For many years all I read was creativity books and spiritual books. Then I realised I needed to build my business muscle as it would help me build a vehicle to share my work with the world. So I’ve been doing that, and it’s been an amazing experience. It’s really, really helped.

5. It’s okay to not be a full-time-income-earning Goddess of You-occupation right now. That  will come in time. The most important thing is to enjoy the journey, trust the process, keep growing, keep exploring who you are, and your gifts and how you want to share them with the world.

6. It’s okay for people not to understand your career and life choices. My parents haven’t always been happy about my decisions, but they’ve worked out perfectly for me. They’ve been just what I needed at the time.

7. When you are working in a cubicle job, have time every week to play with your passions. It makes a HUGGGGE difference! Yayyyyyy!

It’s a beautiful, beautiful world out there and everything is possible. Trust your beautiful self and your instinct, and walk your journey with grace, joy, peace and paint on your fingers and ink on your palms. Do what you want to do, and create a really happy space for you to do it from.

You are so very loved,