go where it burns.
I’ve heard the things that move you—light up that fire inside—are where you should look for your life purpose.
The season that kindled my flame and awakened a burning passion, was packed with difficulty within and around me. Surviving miscarriages, fear about our newborn’s medical diagnosis, and postpartum depression were within me. Around me—trauma and battles with cancer, several suicides, funerals, and despair about life and if there was a purpose. An utterly exhausting move, a major fixer-upper house, with a storm that pelted our marriage like a hurricane.
I wrote, sketched, and prayed to calm down and escape early in the morning before the house was awake. I dove deep into scripture and the existence of God. Then, I reached a tipping point to start sharing the extraordinary things I was discovering those 4 a.m. mornings.
Click through the slides below:
A bit about me.
I am 40ish-year-old—born in the 80’s and still remember life before the internet. I am wife to a hilarious, dedicated husband and father. I am mother of two spunky, beautiful daughters who remind me of the pure joys in my day, while testing me at the same time. I am daughter to loving, hardworking parents. I am sister and aunt. I am daughter-in-law to an incredibly strong woman. I am rescue-pup mama.
I am lover of people and their real, purely honest stories. I am survivor of and witness to hard times—just like you. I am deep-meaning-of-life seeker. I am avid searcher of God and the divine. I am leap-of-faith-taker.
I am mental wellness advocate. I am therapy user and supporter. I am empath. I am survivor of suicide loss.
I am relieved to live in an era where the world can be honest about these things—where vulnerability is honored, not discouraged.
I am fan of going out of comfort zones to see a world-view beyond our home communities to gain perspective and release comparison traps.
I am wanderer. I am former resident of the mountains of Wyoming and the deserts of California. I am former student living in Australia. I am resident of lush greenery and steel country of Pittsburgh, PA, where I grew up, left, and returned.
I am striving artist and veteran designer. I am BA Graphic Design and Integrative Arts degree-holder. I am dabbler in sustainable design and lover of the earth and trying to preserve and save it. I am 17-year Art Director, Graphic Designer, Photographer—One-woman small business owner.
I am singer and wish-I-practiced-piano-more-when-I-was-little musician. I am dreamer of Nina Simone, Beth Hart, Eva Cassidy, Chris Cornell, Bill Joe Armstrong, and Florence and the Machine all in a live concert together.
I am awed admirer of oceans, rivers, and rain. I am lover of crunchy, autumn leaves, campfires, and the moon. I am simplicity-of-nature lover. I am hiker, paddle-boarder, snowboarder, mountain biker, and campfire connoisseur.
I try to accept my weaknesses and either overcome them, or find the good in them. Sometimes, I find a way to deal and thrive; other times, I succumb to bad habits and regress into the blues and start tumbling down.
Through Atlas Art, I’ve been able to create a massive treasure chest of tools to help me navigate this crazy, messy journey. They raise courage and grace and communicate the healing powers of creating with others during and after the toughest challenges of their life.
Above all, I have discovered within the purest truth that I am known, held, and created by an incredible God to whom I owe my breath and this unexplainable, mystifying life.
Navigate upwards with me,
