Create Your Education was born from a love and passion for all things creative and an inherent knowledge that creativity is an integral part of learning and living. I wanted to showcase how creative subjects and even simple creative activities can enhance our learning across many subjects as well as transform the way we think about what we learn and who we are, helping us develop both professionally and personally. But as my life was uncontrollably changing, it unexpectedly became so much more than creativity and learning. It was about my life, my experiences my passions, my knowledge and a venture symbolic of my quest to be happy and fulfilled. It was a gift I could give my children, a legacy if you will, a way of being.
And it all began here…
In 2024, I went back out into the working world after having two glorious children. At the time, I wasn’t nervous at all. In fact, I was ready to get to work, focus on my career and really make something for myself and my family. I was incredibly lucky, because I stumbled upon the perfect role. It was flexible, the hours were perfect and it encompassed Visual Arts and Education. I had really struck gold. I took on the position of Art Assistant at a local Grammar school, feeling confident and ready to give it everything I had.
However, what was to unfold throughout that year would really take me by surprise and steer me in a direction so unexpected that I found myself really lost and questioning almost every aspect of my life.
The first 12 months back at work were so challenging. I missed my kids, a lot and if I thought I was busy before, well, I was really busy now juggling the family as well as my own career. But this was not the biggest challenge for me. Some of the biggest challenges that I faced were around navigating the education system, relating to and supporting staff’s needs and being able to deliver quality teaching and activities to students that held meaning and rich learning opportunities.
Along with this, I had stumbled upon some eye opening health complications after I fainted in a doctors office. The tests and check ups that followed, showed that I had been unknowingly living with heart complications. PVCs and an enlarged heart with a leaky valve were the main culprits and suddenly I was seeing a cardiologists and an electrophysiologist every 6 months. I had to drastically change my diet and exercise habits and I was looking at (what was very likely) inevitable surgery within the next 3-5 years.
So when I felt that something wasn’t quite right at work, or my children’s school/ daycare, I really felt it. When I had to make work related decisions or decisions for my children or my family, I really thought about them and considered all the options. And when I thought about my life, my goals and what I wanted, what I wanted for my children, my family, I really, really thought, and reflected and planned.
There was a shift. My perspective, my lease on life, my values, they were all changing and I found myself wanting so much more, wanting something so different to the life that I had. I found myself riddled with guilt when I couldn’t feel gratitude for the things that I had. So, after a few meltdowns and some serious pondering and reflection, Create Your Education and many other ventures were born.
And since it’s birth it has continued on to be so much more about creativity in education. It has become a way of life, a new way of thinking and a legacy that I can pass on to my children. A legacy that hopefully impacts not only their educational prospects, but their home and family life, their health and fitness, their mind and spiritual connections and their understanding of life, what’s important and ultimately, how to be happy.