The Path to Self-Realization

Updated: October 17, 2024

Hello, fellow seekers of knowledge, dreamers, artists, lovers, readers, writers, warriors of peace, enthusiasts of the extraordinary, and humans in general! 

Self-discovery! Popular term, right?

You always hear about public figures and celebrities discovering or rediscovering themselves. But what about you?

The truth is, we are generally expected to know who we are and pick a direction to follow very early in life, but since self-discovery is an ongoing process that goes hand in hand with experience, this can be a very challenging and confusing task.

An absolute mystery!

Personally, I’ve always considered myself a turtle and a late bloomer.

This is my first blog entry (originally created on August 27, 2020), and in this article, I want to introduce myself and give you a little background with the hopes it inspires you—no matter who you are and what you’re interested in—and lets you know it’s never too late to begin doing what you love. Whether you are twenty-five, forty-five, or sixty-five, you can always start over.

I am a literature lover, a word and grammar nerd, a writer, a self-published poet, an artist, and a freethinking individual who is passionate about helping others and making a positive impact.

My professional life has definitely been a diverse one. I’ve tried many different things and worked in various fields.

Starting out, I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted out of life. I could have pursued, for example, linguistics, philology, literature, jewelry design and repair, or something along those lines.

But I didn’t.  

Honestly, none of those subjects even crossed my mind.

At eighteen, who really knows anything about living, what it’s about, or what they want out of it? At that age, not very many of us do.

I didn’t.

Yet, we are all expected to go to college right away, pick a major, decide what we want to do with the rest of our lives, and stick to it.

Crazy!

There are exceptions, of course, but the majority of us have no idea what is going on when we are eighteen or even when we are well into our twenties.

I think most of you can agree.

The road to self-discovery gets even more complicated and mysterious when you are a diverse individual with numerous interests, like I am. I think that when we are in our twenties, most of us are just overwhelmed with the many shades of life and with discovering the real world.

Very few of us are financially stable or headed in the direction of becoming financially stable.

Most of us don’t even really know where we are headed during those years.

Funny enough, when we begin to mature and gather experience—when we start becoming solid adults—we understand we’ve known who we are the whole time, and things start making sense little by little.

That’s when we begin solving the mystery of self-discovery.

Growing up, I loved reading, writing, and art. I was always in art competitions and, with the risk of tooting my own horn here, even won some of them. I also read and wrote a lot.

Later on, when I started attending college, my English professor constantly encouraged me to pursue writing and recommended I consider taking advanced English courses.

During that time, however, I was too caught up in being a young adult and in exploring my numerous interests.

Yes, I was always making bead necklaces and bracelets, writing, or reading, but trying to turn these things into a profession never even came to mind at the time.

To top to off, I worked at a jewelry store with on-site bench jewelers. I loved my job, but pursuing my inclination for jewelry design and repair further never crossed my mind.

Go figure!

I really had no idea what I wanted to have a career in.

After leaving my major as undecided for the first two years of college, I began constantly changing it and taking classes in different fields of interest.

I started with phycology and then moved to art, 3-D art, art history, interior design, and early childhood education.

It took me a total of six years to graduate, and I finished with a bachelor’s degree in Child and Family Development.

There were also some sociology, and anthropology classes involved in the process.

After I graduated and completed my internship at the Georgia Southern University Child Development Center, I taught preschool for a couple of years.

Then I moved on to other things and started taking different jobs in areas like communications, project building, labor and workload organization, time management, and customer service and relations, which actually built up my skills and gave me the knowledge and tools to be able to start a business of my own.

Meanwhile, I self-published two books of poetic expression—Lyrics of the Soul: A Warrior’s Journey and Lyrics of the Soul: Heartbeat.

Eventually, I stumbled on a proofreading course, and because I’m a writer before anything else, it led me to think about writing for others as well.

I started out by offering writing and editing services (check out my tips and resources if you’re interested in the process or a wordsmith yourself) and later on opened an Etsy shop for my handmade jewelry. 

I kept my business open for three years (2020–2023), and while I’m not in it any longer—I honestly found writing for others and reading literature I wasn’t necessarily into easily got boring and even annoying for me—it greatly expanded my professional skills and abilities. I even built this website all on my own back in 2020 (something I never thought I could do), which is an accomplishment I’m very proud of.

My mid 30s is when I found myself doing administrative work for a great company that treated me very well. I was comfortable and enjoyed a certain level of professional satisfaction, but I can’t wholeheartedly say I felt truly fulfilled in every way. 

Toward the end of my first year at the company, I reached a major turning point in my life.

My masculine counterpart (now husband) came into my life in December of 2022. We married in March of 2023 and settled down in gorgeous Tennessee, where I had to dive into the daunting task of finding a new professional direction once again.

After a while of trial and error and quite a bit of general uncertainty and frustration, my amazing husband’s impeccable perceptive and intuitive skills hinted at a direction I found very curious. This was something that had been repeatedly brought up in my past experiences and something I had immediately dismissed more than once.

It’s safe to say my disinclination to consider the venture had usually stemmed from lack of true understanding or deeper knowledge on the subject matter.

So, I figured the least I could do was educate myself on the topic.

Not long after, I had an epiphany and in October of 2023, I reached another major turning point in my life when I got my Real Estate License.

Today, I’m a REALTOR®. I get to do what I was meant to do and be my most authentic self for a living while fulfilling my life purpose and drive—making a positive impact in others’ lives.

I get to make a difference in people’ experiences during some of the most memorable moments of their lives.

My path and everything I have ever done make complete sense, and my attitude and general mood are quite positive. 

My life feels natural, genuine, blissful, and meaningful. I’ve truly come to appreciate who I am and my experiences, and I have a bright point of view.

There’s a deep sense of satisfaction present in my days, and my gratitude for life is overflowing.

VOILÀ

Mystery: UNCOVERED

Findings: EXPERIENCE AND SELF-REALIZATION INTERTWINE 

My current world is a place where I feel I belong, but I am older, wiser, and have a much better understanding of life, which is what makes all the difference.

My message, in short, is as follows:

There is a reason for everything. You don’t have to have all the answers right away. It’s great if you do, but it’s ok if you don’t. Whatever it is that you love doing is waiting for you. Knowing what it is and how to go about doing it will be revealed to you if you keep your eyes, ears, and heart open.

Never settle. Never stop looking for what’s right for you.

It’s extremely likely you’ll end up surprised to see it’s been literally under your nose the whole time. It may take a while, but everything will fall into place at some point, and you’ll find what you seek.

When you do, don’t think twice!

To Your Success!