My least favorite interview question is "can you tell me a little bit about yourself?". I usually start rattling off past job experiences, or personality traits that relate to the job I had applied for. It's usually a safe bet, I feel.
But when asked the question by a person I am not interviewing for, I have no idea how to answer. Do I answer with my age, marital status, and job title? Do I rattle off personality traits I feel I have? Or do they want to know my favorite movie or band?
Basically I would do really bad on a first date unless it was a Q&A interview. Like, horribly bad.
So I'll attempt to redeem myself and overload you with information about who I am. I'm currently a 29 year-old married woman who is 9 months pregnant with our daughter Peyton. I work as a veterinary technician because I love animals. I enjoy playing board games, visiting museums, road trips, wine, and spending time with my family.
On a vague level I'm sure that description would get me through any first date. However, I did not start this blog to feel safe. I wanted to open myself up to the idea that writing could become more than a hobby to me. So here's the honest truth as to why I'm here and why you're reading this.
When I turned twenty-five I found my life had totally flipped upside down. I had recently started a job teaching art; a career I had worked very hard for in college. I found myself dreading work every single day. I was also smack dab in the middle of my engagement of two years falling apart. And the cherry on top of the cake was that I had recently found myself in the middle of some kind of emotional downward spiral.
The emotional spiral was probably caused by all the doubt I was feeling, but I could not seem to get myself out of it. Usually art was a way that I could express my emotions. If I was sad or angry, painting or drawing always seemed to pull me back. But in this downward spiral, not even art was helpful.
So I began journaling every night before bed. It wasn't long before this journaling turned into writing during prep periods at work. In just a few months time I wrote 200 poems, which I saved to my iphone's notes. I began created small sketches for each poem, and eventually reached out to a publisher. When it came time to submit more of my work, I froze. I was terrified of my family and friends reading about how I was truly feeling. Once I stopped communicating with this publisher, I stopped writing all together.
Almost 3 years passed by and I found myself at another crossroads with work. Ultimately I loved my job at the time, but I needed more. I wanted to continue being a vet tech, but also longed for a hobby that would fulfill me the way art once had. After a long work day I drove myself to a beach and forced myself to meditate until I found the answers I was looking for. Well, five minutes in it started raining. So I sat there on a large rock, alone on a beach, crying at the irony of the rain when I suddenly got the urge to write again. A few weeks later, when I had some time off from work, I forced myself to sit down and start writing a book.
Well today that book is still in progress, but I feel damn good writing again. I'm hoping this blog can just be a safe space for me to write about different aspects of life as a way to adjust to being open and honest.
So to sum it ALL up, I am a 29 year-old woman who has suffered through a few existential crises that have led me to create a blog and share my experiences and opinions with all who want to read them.
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