WELCOME  TO  THE DESIGN TALK COMMUNITY

Not everything growing up was sprinkles and rainbows however. And I have spent almost a decade running from reality, trying to drown out the traumas I accumulated along the way. 

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Spoiler alert: plane tickets don't cure PTSD. (But they do make for a great story. And having visited over 50 countries... there are many tales I could tell.)

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Growing up I was gifted:

• musical prodigy - advanced concert pianist, completing my RCM and ARCT before high school, could pick up any instrument and play it immediately (and sing)

• school came naturally - held a 95%-98% average, carried the curve, only one to get 100% on two provincial exams in a row

• competitive athlete - gymnastics, provincial soccer & swimming, regional track & badminton & volleyball & cross country skiing (+more)

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Growing up I also got myself into some nasty situations:

• home life was dysfunctional - teachers called it WWIII when they thought I couldn't hear them (no violence or abuse, let me make that clear - but the screaming was far from peaceful)

• my first major relationship was beyond abusive and is something I'm still struggling to come to terms with to this day

• my birth mother would occasionally pop into my life, leaving a wake of destruction behind her

• I essentially emancipated on my 16th birthday because I had the audacity to try and contact my birth father one day (which hurt my grandfather deeply - not that he'll ever admit it)

• despite never breaking a bone I almost died...

  • drowning​

  • from a kidney infection I ignored for a month

  • a major injury to my diaphragm

  • pneumonia

• could not go more than six months without losing at least one person (a friend, or family member, or close family friend) to everything from natural causes to hit and runs to accidents to violence from the age of 16 until the age of 21 which was TRAUMATIC to say the least​

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When I went to University, I worked three jobs (coaching gymnastics, running a piano school I founded that at it's peak had 30 students, and retail) and still was set to graduate two years early... only to be slammed with losing four people from my immediate circle (yes, deaths) just as midterms began and while accidentally ending up with six major concussions in two and a half months. So I dropped out. It took me over five years to finally go back to school and then another two years to graduate because I had to switch Universities to study online and they made me do my remaining two courses PLUS a year long leadership course and then forgot to graduate me. 

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Long story short... regardless of what happens to me, I learned that no matter what (my resources, situation, location in this world) I will always be okay. 

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I am resilient. I am intelligent. I am a chameleon.

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Despite everything that has happened to me, I have retained my humanity. I am still an empath, I still put others before myself, I still want to believe in people. 

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And for that, I am grateful.