I don\’t exactly know when the idea occurred to me that I may actually be able to achieve something more in my life than what I thought possible. I think part of it has come from my awesome therapist who pushes me outside of my comfort zone and encourages me to explore things I never really considered. It could also be my increased enneagram-centered volunteer work and training that has put me in a mindset of more conscious awareness and wanting to live positively. I find myself practically exploding with dreams and ideas (something I haven\’t felt for a couple of years after a PhD in sociology didn\’t seem likely). I have also thought a great deal about areas of my life that need improvement (my negativity / complaining nature, taking things to seriously and less than ideal interpersonal communication skills).
All of this has started leading me to potentially stepping out of my comfortable little life and try to pursue a business venture dream (even though I never thought about starting a business ever before in my life). I feel like it is radical.
Part of this radical process has involved me trying to learn everything I possibly can about myself, about how to start a business and about skills I feel less confident in which has led me to subscribe to a ton of self-development blog and entrepreneurial email newsletters which is both overwhelming and exciting.
I once said that if I was only able to let down my hyper-vigilant guard that \”keeps me in line\” and maintaining expectations, I would be able to explore, to be curious, to be free and to play. I want that for myself. I want to work on that for myself.
One of the blogs I subscribed to had a 7-day Start-A-Blog Challenge and I sit here and think: Why not? I know I have a habit of not following through on things, but who cares? I want to go wherever life takes me and today it\’s taking me here. Since I already have a blog, I thought it would be ok to just keep it all on here.
Anyways, here\’s my first submission for the Challenge:
Write a few sentence about your story/background, why you decided to start a blog and what you hope to get out of it.
My name is Karen. I grew up outside Houston, live in Austin and work as a data analyst. I became interested in self-growth because I have been trying to help myself take control of my lifelong generalized anxiety and panic disorders. This brought me to the enneagram which has ignited a passion within me that I want to share with the world. I also love sociology and can talk endlessly about social issues.
I started a blog to keep an ongoing record of what goes on throughout my life. What I choose to write about is directly dependent on what I feel like I want to write about. This has been so useful in terms of learning about who I am when I am allowed to express all the feelings / thoughts / ideas I have. I also love to talk and blogging is basically permission to talk. Putting my thoughts into writing (or speech) and getting them out of my head has really been the most natural and effective way for me to deal with them. I hope to see my growth and to continue to learn about myself, who I am, what I want, and how I can get there.