I graduated with a degree in Zoology from Duke University in North Carolina way back when, and I adore frogs toads, salamanders, and snakes... and yes, dirty pigs-- see my friends above! I had and continue to have a deep love for the natural world, but my life path ultimately led me away from the field of environmental science. After raising two wonderful children in Connecticut, a series of significant people and events propelled me onto a path that led to the graduate school of Social Work at UT, here in Austin. It was a long time coming, but this shift was a monumental one for me.
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To be honest, one of the reasons it took me so long to become a therapist was that a part of me was disappointed in my fellow human creatures. How could others not see the value of caring for our beautiful & exquisitely interconnected planet? We are getting better, and it does feel as though a global awakening is under way. In the meantime, I experienced an awakening of my own. Over the course of my life, I have come to appreciate the extraordinary value of our, for lack of a better word, beingness.
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So what is beingness? In my understanding, it is nothing more, nor nothing less, than the intrinsic value of being alive. A miracle. With this awareness, I realized the crucial responsibility we owe to ourselves, to one another and to all living beings (and possibly to whomever or whatever higher power) to live our lives fully. We are born worthy. We exist to provide something valuable to the world. But what if we don't know what this means? What if we experienced stuff early in our lives, or later, that prevents us from truly knowing how important we are so we can figure out why we are here? What if we have been exposed to so many adverse experiences that we never had the opportunity to explore our true nature, to love ourselves, to learn that it is okay to be vulnerable, take risks and make mistakes, to connect with our true potential and purpose? With these questions in mind, I discovered the field of Social Work.
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If you would like to know more about my education and training, please click on the pigs. Thank you for taking the time to visit my website.
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