5.08.2014

Behind the Art: Follow Your Heart

Hey! It's Heather here with you to share my first page I made with the new May kit! 








The first topic I thought about when I found out that this month's kit was entitled "Intuition" was a situation that I was in a year ago (wow!). I was graduating high school and didn't know if I should go to college or not. I didn't plan on having a career for life, and therefore felt that going to college really wasn't for me. Well, there's also a LOT of pressure in high school to go to college. Everyone wants you to go to college. You are a failure if you don't. Honestly I think that is society's opinion this day and age. But, I personally know people that did NOT go to college and still have good paying jobs. My dad's a perfect example. He has had a lot of training on the job, but he doesn't have a college degree per say. And he's not dumb, either. Plus, so many people go into debt going to college. I didn't want to go into debt! 

Then there was also the pressure of me being Valedictorian. #1 in my class. And am I going to college? Umm…

So, I toured two of the colleges around where I lived. First I visited the University of Montevallo. And oh. my. goodness. It was awesome! I loved every single thing about it except the money I would have to spend to go there. I would have had to stay on campus, which makes the cost skyrocket! This college was built in the early 1900's (or late 1800's) and it was set up like a private college. You can just imagine. SO beautiful. 

Then I toured UAB. University of Alabama at Birmingham. I could drive there. But I hated the campus. Nothing seemed as cozy as Montevallo. Honestly, it was ugly. I didn't like the atmosphere. I did not fall in love with it like I did with Montevallo. But I could still get an education. So, I decided to go to UAB. 

But, it still didn't feel right. Why should I go to college just because other people are pressuring me to go?! My heart was telling me to skip college. I didn't want to go into debt to go to college and I didn't like UAB. So why go? Plus, if you know how tired I got of high school, you'd understand why I didn't want to go. So, after I had already enrolled in classes and went to orientation at UAB, I cancelled. I decided not to go to college. 

Now, intuition. How does that tie into all this? Originally, I didn't want to go to college. Something inside me (which I label as intuition!) didn't want to go. And I ended up listening to my gut. And I'm SO glad I did! I have worked in that year and saved up some more money and I have learned a lot. Things I couldn't have learned going to college. And you wanna know something? I got a full scholarship for this fall to attend our local 2-year college! Yeah, baby! And my gut says, "Go for it!" I'm SO excited about it. I did NOT feel like this a year ago.

Listening to your heart isn't always easy. At least it isn't for me. I question myself over and over. I guess because it was hard to accept the fact that I wanted something contrary to what others wanted for me. And sometimes I'm a "pleaser" too much. But, I learned that it's OKAY to have different plans for yourself. It's ok to follow your heart. 

On this layout, I used some very cool symbols to reflect some different things. I used the lightbulb on the photo of me at Montevallo to symbolize that I definitely had a "lightbulb" moment at that college. That is where I wanted to go (before I realized it was too expensive to go, LOL). Then I used the Dear Lizzy thickers in the kit to add the ?'s to the page. 'Cause I sure didn't know what to do. And probably my favorite symbol? The title card. Look at the lovely tangled mess that houses the title. That looks like the path I took in my decision making! I don't know how many times I woke up and said, "Yep- I'm going to _____." And then the next day, "Nah- I'm going to skip college for now." Indecision, indecision…

One more symbol! See anything different on the journaling close-up? It had the words "love love love love love" all over the top of the card. And I marked some of them out. Because believe me, there were sometimes I didn't love the situation. ;P

So that is my story! I hope you enjoyed reading… I wrote what was in my heart… :) I'd love to hear your thoughts! 


2 comments:

katie said...

Oh Girl, you're not the only one who has struggled with indecision on the college thing.
My Dad always wanted me to go to college, but something in me (intuition?) always just said "you don't belong there."
It was extremely hard to do something other than what the world expects you to do but I'm so glad I'm pursing my art instead. Although I still get really annoyed that the first thing people ask me when they meet me is "so, are you in school?".

Congrats on getting a scholarship, btw! :)

Heather Doolittle said...

I know! It's like, "Uhh-- there are other ways to be happy and successful in life."