How Did I Get Here?!
Pictured: Me in my wedding dress on my wedding day! It's sort of the first day Songbird Paperie started, but I didn't know at the time! :o)
I get this question asked quite a bit: "How did you end up doing design/stationery/calligraphy/the stuff that you do?" I get SO excited when people ask that because my answer is unexpected, entertaining (to me at least!), and so much fun to tell! And I'd love to tell you too, because I know you're absolutely DYING to know. (Haha or not. That's okay too. Maybe. Just pretend for me, okay? Gratzi!)
Graphic design, stationery, and insanely perfect handwriting are three things that I have loved since I was little girl. I grew up in tech central (Silicon Valley, woot woot!) with a Dad in tech, so he always brought me home design software galore and other fun computer software to try out (like... one of the first first-person shooter computer games that was so fun to play... I totally look the type, right?!). So I'm self-taught in graphic design. I also loved to make cards and place cards, make my own fonts, and even practice writing with my non-dominant hand to perfect my lefty handwriting. You think after all those years doing those fun things, I'd go on to art school and get some sort of fine arts degree, right?
WRONG! I went to USC (Fight on, Trojans!) and got a degree in Neuroscience. Seriously. Neuroscience.
What I forgot to mention about my childhood is that in addition to the artsy side of life, I thoroughly enjoyed the science of life - weather, physiology, medicine, biology, and so on, which inspired me to want to be a pediatrician from the ripe old age of seven years young. (In addition to the next Mariah Carey. Renaissance woman!) Thus my pursuit of the world of neurons, pathways, and gray & white matter.
After realizing that I actually would not enjoy medical school (the cut-throat and unattractively over-competitiveness of my fellow pre-med students turned me off), I switched gears and made a beeline to a pre-physical therapy track. I enjoyed kinesiology, rehabilitation and physical fitness, so that was a no-brainier. What was a brain-scratcher, however, was the fact that even with getting the neuro degree, working as a physical therapy aide for 6 years, and getting great recommendations, after THREE (3!!!) consecutive years of applying to physical therapy school, I. Did. Not. Get. In.
Wouldn't that make you kind of upset ever so slightly? Yeah, I would have thought so for me too. But... by the time the third year of skinny envelopes filling my mailbox rolled around, I wasn't upset.
Quick BTW: I'm new at this blog thing. But it's exciting so I want to be so open and honest as I can -- or else, how can you be a good writer?
So, the not being upset: weird, right? Yeah I thought so too. So I prayed to God about it. Turns out, I had never prayed to God before about my career. Never. Ever. Even when I pray about everything else. So I said okay, God, then, I give this career business to you. Please help me figure this out! And so, because he's faithful, he did. And wow what a difference it made!
It turned out that the medical world was so far from God's plan for me. And oh did I try to make it my plan. I wanted the title, the salary, and all the recognition. (I was such a turd!) But I failed on my own. Enter God and BAM! New direction that was HIS direction, a direction that was his plan all along - be a graphic designer, calligrapher, stationer, and be a good one of those. I became happier, more joyful, more confident, and more reliant on God than ever before, which is really good! And I saw success and true joy in obedience when everywhere else I saw failure and misery.
Flowers make everything pretty! Image via Glitter Guide.
Do I regret my time at USC and studying neuroscience? Nope. Not a single day of it. God chooses to use our good and bad choices for his and our good, teaching us so much about his grace and mercy. My time at USC was the best time of my life (Fight on Trojan Marching Band!) and I met my wonderful husband. I still recreationally enjoy the world of neuro, and I was able to understand a scary neurological diagnosis and partially unsuccessful and damaging operation my mother went through during my college years, so I know that everything was worth it.
But I love design so much more. It's where I'm supposed to be and I love every minute of it. Thanks for hanging in there to read my story! I look forward to sharing with you tomorrow's blog, featuring some fun wedding inspiration photos from this year's Weddings in Woodinville! See you tomorrow!
xoxo,
Rosie
