Passions

I know, I know!  I've probably written more about my passions in life than I should, mostly because I am not really following through with them.  The thing is, I feel that if you don't maintain constant thoughts about your dreams and your passions, they very quickly fade and die!  What are my passions in  life?  Other than my family, who are the most important part of my life, I feel very passionate about living naturally, eating healthy, being creative, and looking for things that maybe outside the box.

As some of you know, I am a social worker by profession.  I have about 12 years experience working with the geriatric population and in nursing homes (some nursing homes have younger people in them too).  I got my MSW in 2007 and between getting married and having my 3 kids, I haven't really done much with my career since graduation.  While I only had my undergrad degree, I thought long and hard about going back to school.  Did I really want to go back for a MSW, or did I want to branch out and do something totally different?  I often thought about going back to school to get my dietician degree, but then I figured the degree would just point me in teh direction of the SAD (standard american diet), again I wanted something that was out of the box.  After a while I thought about going back to school for an art therapy degree.  That actually would be a littel out of the box, as I'm not sure all insurances (probably a primary payer source for many people) actually pay for that type of therapy.  I had a mentor lead me to get my MSW, and then I could think about using my MSW and my passions as a way to treat people using more alternative methods.  Unfortunately, at this time in my life, I have not been able to persue many alternative therapy trainings.  I have taken a conference on journal therapy and would love to do more on that.  I have taken a conference on yoga therapy and again would love to learn more.  I have also taken a conference on art therapy, and would absolutely love to learn more on that.  I have so many different interests that I think could help me in my social work practice, but until I get my LICSW, which will not be for some time (not starting til at least when the twins go to school which isn't for another 4 years). 

In the meantime, I would love to take classes on the things that I have already mentioned as well as more alterntative therapies.  I would love to also incorporate different eating plans into my learning and my social work practice.  I would love to learn more about aromatherapy and it's affect on mood and behavior.  I just really want to incorporate My passions into my professional lifee too.  That way, I think that I will be a better social worker, if I am using things that I actually believe in and also be happier than jsut using the standard talk therapy.

While I am waiting for all this to happen, I really need to start following my passions in my own life, especially if I want to reach others with them.  I need to stop following the SAD and start incorporating the different diets that I think benefit people.  I need to continue to make time for my creative endeavors.  I need to continue to live as natural and handmade life as possible.  I think once I get into a rhythm, things will get easier to maintain.  It's just getting into that rhythm, that is tough.

This is a goal that I will continue to work on.  I know that as I learn more for my personal life, I will learn things for my professional life too.  I just think that I need to make sure that I get some sort of certification in the different things that I learn if I plan to use it in my professional life too.  I guess life is alwways a work in progress, and we are always learning!

Here's to following your passions and living the life that you truly want to be living!
Amy