You Never Know...
Photo by Andrea Pesce Photography for Creative at Heart Conference
Sometimes life is just crazy. It's filled with coincidences and surprises and just when you think you've got something figured out, everything changes. It's like riding a roller coaster in the dark.
To be honest, I see that people read my blog but I really don't know who that is. I don't get a lot of comments on here, I just see numbers. But that's okay! I'm not looking for them. But of course it's nice to hear when something I wrote about reached someone or helped them in some way. It makes the blog feel worth it and like it means something.
So when I got a random (filtered, ugh!), Facebook message, it really hit me.
A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about the story of how I became a full timer with my business. It talked about my journey and how after years of the wrong jobs, I finally found the right one within myself. One of those wrong jobs was me working at a logistics and relocation company in Northern VA.
That Facebook message was from a lady who has been working at that same company for five years. She understood my time there as a creative mind (it was hard as it just wasn't the right place for me, I mean, they yelled at me for having colors in my cubicle) and that she experienced the same thing. She was referred to my blog by a co-worker who knew me from my time there and it inspired her to move on to start a new career of doing what she loved, even if she wasn't quite sure what that was yet.
I can't even tell you what that meant to me.
The truth is, I left that job thinking that no one really cared or knew who I was. It was my first job out of college. I was going through a lot of life changes and I was a relatively unhappy person. I was trying to prove myself, and I tried so hard day in and day out to be good at something that I didn't have a passion for. It was awful. I began to loathe my job and that place.
So I found another job, and I left. On my last day, there were no parties. There was no cake. There was no thank you. I got there at the same time I did every other day, took the same lunch I always did, and left at the same time. I left with barely a good bye. My boss and only friend in the building (I thought) wasn't even there that day. Not that I needed any of those things, but I remember walking out of the office on my last day thinking 'this is so anticlimactic.' And I didn't think anyone would even remember my name.
But I was wrong. It might have taken five years to realize it, but I was wrong. People did remember me and apparently still followed me and my journey. I did make an impact.
I'm not telling you all of this to brag or anything like that, I promise. I'm telling you for two reasons: 1. I know I'm not the only one who has experienced something like this; and 2. even when we don't think we matter, WE DO, even when we don't think we're seen, WE ARE. Sometimes these journeys we are on, aka life, can be so surreal. I mean, writing a blog and having a business, you hope that you might be able to inspire someone one day, I mean why else would I put my feelings and hardships out there if I didn't want someone to be able to relate? Or maybe someone can learn from a mistake I made?
We influence and inspire people every day in ways we don't even realize. In an age of Social Media, we are never NOT being watched. Just scrolling through my Instagram on a daily basis, I am in awe of the people I follow; I am inspired by their creativity. Getting on Instagram can be so overwhelming sometimes because it always sparks my creativity and makes me want to get up and do something!
It's things like this Facebook message that remind me why I do what I do. Yes, I love designing things. I love using my creativity on a daily basis. I love my clients and running my own business (most days :) ). But I also love to help and serve others in any way that I can that come into my office. And I know that my blog doesn't inspire every person who reads it, but the fact that it reached one person made it all worth it.
Do things with purpose and passion. Do them because you love them. Do them because they mean something to you. People see that, and people notice. And you never know who's watching you.
Photo by Andrea Pesce Photography for Creative at Heart Conference Shop
Photo Models
Johnna Hetrick (Me!)
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