Thank you for giving me hope; that being on the edge is another opportunity to surrender to what may once again open in one's calling. Reading your story came at the perfect time as I am seeking my current calling after a lifetime of service. Your journey resonates in how a chance meeting can send one on an unexpected trajectory. In 2005, I left my job as Children's Librarian in a small town library having prior served at the National AID Hotline and in clinics for underserved women as a counselor. I sold my small home and possessions to create and facilitate a voluntary literacy project in Belize. Through listening for what was needed and asking for assistance I was able to donate programs for 30,000 students and train 800 teachers. That all began because of one conversation on a small boat with a local snorkel guide who asked if I could somehow help with literacy all because I had shared about being a Storyteller. Belize then led me to Ghana after a Ghanaian librarian found me online and invited me to share the literacy program. That visit led to interviewing locals on what they wanted people to know about Ghana, to break stereotypes and amplify local voices. This led to Kenya and Haiti as well, to interview locals about programs and initiatives they created to address local problems, and to share those stories in print and online to break stereotypes and highlight local knowledge and solutions to challenges. Hearing their stories led to being in service to survivors of complex trauma through another program called Steer Your Story and a Master's in Narrative Therapy. Through one post on social media in 2019 a tour of service for survivors of abuse, incarceration, violence and war across the US and Canada was stitched together. Today I serve with a local theatre as a teaching artist working with students in life skills and emotional support classes. While I have not navigated a debilitating physical illness, I have navigated episodic situational severe depression and anxiety (to unpack the layers of context is another story for another time) While I feel a little lost as to my 'larger calling' in the midst of now 3 years caregiving for my mom, I am once again hopeful another path will guide me where to serve. Thank you again for giving me hope.
ORIGINAL COMMENT