the road to graphic recording
My journey in life has been filled with many a twist and turn.
When I was seven and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would confidently say, “An artist!”
But by the end of high school I was geared up and ready to go to university for mechatronic systems engineering. I had a math/science brain, I had discovered, and therefore needed to pursue a steady and sensible math/science career. Much of my time throughout university was spent learning that this simply wasn’t true. I did enjoy the math, sure, but I got to a point where I just knew that I was not meant to spend my life being an engineer. Which was a great realization, because engineering was making me pretty miserable. Around that time, I started to reconnect with my creative side. It was fun, and playful, and really kept me alive as I finished my degree.
I tried a number different things in the first few years after university. Running a business in the food industry, working for a zero waste community organization, accepting that I had no idea what I was doing or even what I wanted to do. It was a season of deep, often difficult, learning. Then one day, seemingly out of the blue, I was introduced to graphic recording. I was invited to give it a try at a community event, and I fell pretty hard and fast in love.
I’ve been doing this work now since January 2019. I consider it an honour to show up in spaces, as my whole, creative, and highly sensitive self, to synthesize, draw, mirror, and host discussions that lead to a deeper understanding of what’s in the room. It’s been quite a journey to get here, which I’m grateful for. The highs and lows were all necessary along the way. Like any conversation I record, the road is dynamic: ever changing, always emerging. There’s no knowing what’s beyond the horizon, or even around the next bend. But what I do know is that my seven year-old self would be beyond thrilled to see me, right where I am, today.
