Leaving My Old Life Behind

Comment

Comment by Brandon on July 12, 2009 at 10:52am

ive been going through this lately and hearing your thoughts really helps put it in perspective.

thank you!

Comment by Christine on June 22, 2009 at 9:26pm

Thanks everyone for your comments! I'm happy so far with my new direction and hope all of you are moving towards the direction of your dreams too! Hope you are doing well! Thanks for watching!

Comment by Connie Chapman on June 21, 2009 at 1:11am

I LOVE the idea behind this video!!! I love what you say under it... "When you decide to change to a new direction, your old life tends to linger around to tempt you to come back. I had to send a clear message to the universe that I am leaving my old life behind to pursue my dreams"
I can completely relate to that. I am attempting to take a new direction with my career, and I have already been offered 4 jobs doing what I was previously doing. I have turned them all down, but it takes a lot of courage and commitment to your dream in order to do this. I totally feel like my old life is following me and tempting me haha!!! Lilou Mace, writes about this concept in her book too!!! When she decided to take a new path, she got offered a really well paid opportunity in her previous field, but she turned it down and had to prove her commitment to her new dream to the Universe.
Great work Christine!!!

Comment by Maya Z. on June 18, 2009 at 12:41pm

Wow - great for choosing and committing!!!
That is so powerful.

Good luck,

Love

Maya

Comment by Christine on June 18, 2009 at 12:02pm

Hi Rachel! Thanks for your comment. I didn't get a chance to read it until now. My old job requires a full-time commitment, and usually 50-60 hours/week, so it's really hard to do anything else but that job. I was working as a user-experience designer/consultant, so we work with a huge team of people to plan, gather requirements, design, and built large corporate websites. Unfortunately, these skills don't relate to small scale websites, so I can't actually create a website on my own. I was one cog in the wheel so to speak. I don't mind designing the user experience of a website, but I really didn't like the lifestyle, hours, projects, etc. What I really love to do is work with my hands and create my own design. In the web world, even though you are designing, it is not really that creative. You can't create out of inspiration. It is all based on what the client wants, needs, and everything is very practical, analytic, and kind of boring from my perspective.

What I really want is to be my own boss. I want to make money by doing what I love. And I have discovered that what I love is making things, and making beautiful things that fulfill a need or purpose. This is how I came to fashion design. I am very good with my hands, and I felt that a lot of my artistic abilities were not being used in my old job. I also like being an entrepreneur. Working in a corporate setting made me feel very stifled, although it is nice to have a secure salary. I took my last job because of the salary alone and found myself very unfulfilled and unhappy and really eager to quit.

I don't know what the best route is for me to get from where I am to where I want to be (which is to have my own line of products, clothes, etc.) that is sold online and in stores. And I am not exactly clear on what type of product, clothes it will be yet, but I feel that I am getting closer. I just know that I don't have the skills right now to design clothes, which is why I decided to go back to school It's only a one year program and it's with the best fashion design school in the nation, so the name alone will open doors for me that I would never have access too. I have taken the internship with an accessories designer so that I can learn how she built her business from the ground up, which is what I am interested in doing. And I would also like to have an accessories line to complement my fashion line one day. I have been thinking that maybe it's better to start with the accessories line since it is something I can do right now.

So, even though I have taken this internship and have sacrificed pay, I am looking for other ways to bring in income. I have lots of ideas and lots of product ideas that I have been thinking about. I only work 3 days a week for the designer, so I am hoping to use what I learn from her and build my own business on the side, and keep that going while I'm in school.

I am also taking a LEED exam soon, which is a green building construction cerification exam. I'm not sure exactly where this is leading me, but I feel really compelled to take it and someone told me to take this exam and even presented me with all the materials to study from. I studied how to build a sustainable enterprise while getting my MBA, so I am very interested in being green. There are so many things that are running through my head that I wish I had someone who could help me sort it all out!

My only guess is that one day I will be designing things with a sustainable and green approach, possibly using environmentally-friendly manufacturing processes, sustainable materials, etc. I'm trying to combine all of my passions. Boiling it down, my passions are: design (fashion, interior, crafts), business, wellness, sustainability, spirituality, and philanthropy. I'm excited to see how it all blends together. I'm open to any ideas! Thanks for watching and offering suggestions!

Comment by createfate on June 16, 2009 at 6:04pm

wow..this is so impressive... and is helpful for me. I am also thinking of a career shift... and I would have to give up some $$$... it is a leap of faith... Keep us updated on what happens..