Do you know Cynthia Morris? She is a creative life coach who runs Original Impulses and has a blog Journey Juju that is great fun to read and follow. I highly recommend her. She is celebrating 10 years in business and is running various lists of 10. I decided to post this one here. If you decide to do one, please link here and to her site, too. Here is the link to the post.

This list is called 

How You Became Who You Are Today or 10 Things That Have Formed You the Most

1. How you spent your time after school as a kid.  I collected all sorts of nature stuff and made my own little exhibits and museum in my basement and bedroom. I had toads, snakes, snails, bug of all kinds, turtles and so on. I read constantly, especially books about animals and adventure stories and I wished I was a boy so I could be a pirate or explorer. I drew a lot and wrote stories and had a very active inner life. 
2. What you studied in college.  After realizing that dissection was not my thing I went with my other love, art. I have a BFA in painting and studied watercolor with a wonderful Chinese calligrapher because watercolor was not considered serious enough to be a major course of study. I also studied psychology, zoology and philosophy. 
3. What you did immediately after college or high school graduation. As soon as I graduated I headed to NYC to find my fame and fortune as an artist. I met my soon to be husband just before leaving for New York and he was going there to be in theater. We were very poor, lived in a tiny walk up studio with my dog and cat and I painted and drew cards every night that I sold the next day in Central Park.
4. How you spend your money. I have never had much money so most of it pays basic bills. We live in a very small house his parents help us buy when we had kids. When I have extra money I go to the city and look at art or travel somewhere different.
5. The people you surround yourself with. I have trouble with this one because I seem to surround myself with people having problems or who are a little crazy.....hmmm....or at least that is how it feels a lot of the time. I am still friends with many people I've known since childhood and college and not all those alliances are healthy ones for me. Most of my friends where I live are artists or naturalists and most are self employed. 
6. What you failed at. I have been a good parent, a good wife, a good friend, a good daughter and very active community member but I have failed at every business attempt I've made. I am apparently more a dreamer than a doer....I have great ideas but my follow through is not so good...Most days I think of myself as a failure.
7. Who grabs your attention. Barbara Kingsolver jumps to mind because she does so much and does so much well....I would like to be more like her....;-)
8. What you read. I read all the time--essays, short stories, good fiction, memoirs of interesting people....
9. What you say to yourself and others. too much and too little....
10. What you eat. I try to eat healthy foods but have a wicked sweet tooth....    

Comments

[Suki]

This was so interesting Mary. I do wish though that you werent so hard on yourself sometimes.

[jackie]

When I saw your name I thought I'd say hello. Before I was married I was Richmond..Jacqueline Mary Richmond. It struck a chord.
I suppose thats your married name though so we won't be related. There must be hundreds of Richmonds out there but its not a name I come across often.

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