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Welcome to INVIBE. I created INVIBE back in 2015 to foster a platform of service in career coaching as well as a space for blogging, creativity and connection. I set this project down while I went back to work in the corporate world, because well, I needed a steadier stream of income, and to be honest, I think my fear was getting the best of me. Fear of not being enough. Fear of what people would say.
“What business do you have being a career coach or life coach?” “Really, you have no credentials” “Exactly what experience do you have in this area?” And the most powerful one, “Who do you think you are?” This was my inner critic on constant loop more so than actual comments people said to me. But nevertheless, my ego won out and I went back to work that I secretly hated. I was miserable in the work I was doing in the sales realm: the competitiveness of it, the lack of insincerity around me, the constant chase and ass-kissing. It wasn’t me. I tried being myself – transparent and genuine – in fact that’s where I felt most comfortable, but what was least accepted in the business setting. Sometimes me just being me worked, but most often I was taken as “soft” and “not suited for sales.” I was expected to jump in the hamster wheel, do what I was told, be like everyone else, and oh, by the way, hit my targets.
Fast forward through many experiences that the Universe sent me to realize what I really wanted as a safe place to be myself and work my day-to-day as my truest expression of my self and soul. Who doesn’t want that? I believe this is where our creativity is at its peak, at the core of who we truly are. Why is it then we are asked to shut part of it off as we step through the door at work? Why is it not accepted to creatively express who we are in a professional context? Through my own personal journey of growth, I have come to answer the question of why we are here on this physical plane. The answer has come to me that we are here to live through our creative expression. It’s who we are at our core and we all have a unique way that we are meant to express that. Our purpose is to create heaven on Earth, right now, through our expression in all its forms, not mark time until it’s our time to go to heaven (if that’s in your belief system in any form).
To paraphrase Brené Brown, if we leave our creativity untapped, it is not benign. It eventually turns into anger, grief, sadness, depression, and/or disease. It is energy that must move, its very purpose is to be expressed and to flow, and if we stop that flow by cutting it off, we are damaging ourselves – both spiritually and physically.
All this to say I followed all the “steps” society laid out for me when I was younger, in the order I was “supposed to” and I ended up unfulfilled. Why? Because I was changing who I was in order to fit into what society set and accepted as the standard for success. But success means something different to all of us. To me, in this moment, it means freedom in all forms: freedom of expression, freedom to be me in the work that I do, and even financial freedom. I also think our definition of success changes as we evolve and grow. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for the path I chose that brought me here to today. I wouldn’t change one single thing. These lessons are invaluable.
Back in the fall of 2019 I earned my Reiki Level II, and I am in the process of completing the requirements for the official certification. I am feeling called to incorporate this into my work going forward and it will be under the INVIBE umbrella, as well as this blog. I am still fitting all the pieces together to see how it all connects, but I couldn’t wait any longer to get back into this part of it. If I wait until I have the website all set up and perfect, I will never get there. I have learned over the last year to take leaps of faith and trust my inner guidance more, and it has been lighting up the path so intensely.
I am currently continuing my academic pursuits with a Leadership in Organizations Certificate at Ryerson University to help bridge the gaps from my sales and marketing background to the human resources area. In my twenties and attending university, I became interested in the Human Resources area after taking an Organizational Behaviour course, but became discouraged when my marketing professor told me that I would be bored in that field and that I should go into Marketing because I’d be more “successful” pairing that with my French studies. So that’s what I did. Here I was, a poster child for listening to what society wanted for me, not what I wanted for me.
Despite not pursuing it as a career, that interest in Human Resources never really left me, especially as I gained experience in various corporate cultures that appeared detached from the human element. I noticed everyone shutting off parts of their true self that weren’t accepted in the professional setting. Those parts that get turned off when we walk in the office door each morning, this is where our creative expression lies; it’s the core of who we are. We are conditioned to dial ourselves back because it doesn’t fit into the norms of the professional workplace, yet we are still expected to perform to our fullest potential. No wonder so many of us are miserable at work. I believe we can change this by creating a culture that supports our creative expression, personalities, and our human aspects; all of us. That is my mission.
This is why I wouldn’t change one single thing about my path so far because it led me to this purpose. Now more than ever I’m feeling called to work in the area of Human Resources, not in a traditional sense, but rather a holistic approach. One that focuses on employee well-being, where employees are encouraged to show up with their whole self and not shut down parts of their personality and creative expression. I also feel that incorporating Reiki energy work, other healing modalities and personal development quests into the health and wellness part of human resources will help to achieve a thriving corporate culture, and it's where we are headed collectively.
Directly related to this work is the mental health crisis we’re currently in. Roughly 500,000 Canadians call in sick to work each week due to mental health issues (source Global News – Ipsos Poll April 2017). Addressing employee mental health is something that we can’t avoid any longer. We need a more holistic approach to employee wellness that includes mental health as equally as physical health, as well as a space that fosters our creative expression. This is where we can begin to tap into our highest potential relative to performance, and it really is a win-win for the individual and the organization. I want to bring this to organizations and help it be the norm.
So here I am sharing my journey again. I am working on a book, tuning into my gifts, and while still trying to move into a permanent role in Human Resources, I'm also continuing to create utilizing those gifts I have to share. We all have them and they are meant to be expressed and shared. Right now, stronger than ever, I am feeling the push in this direction from the Universe.
If you have read this far, thank you and thank you for bearing with me as I create this newer and evolved INVIBE space that encourages and inspires others to tap into their own creativity and bring expansion around a more holistic approach to our whole wellbeing in the workplace and in life, while sharing my personal journey in the process. I hope you find some inspiration.