blog lovin' tour // trust

Hello everyone! and welcome to the eighth and last week of The Declaration of You! Blog Lovin' tour [boo-hoo :( ]

The Declaration of You will be published by North Light Craft Books this summer, with readers getting all the permission they've craved to step passionately into their lives, discover how they and their gifts are unique and uncover what they are meant to do! This post is part of The Declaration of You's Blog Lovin' Tour, which I'm thrilled to participate in alongside over 100 other creative bloggers. Learn more and join us, read here!

This Blog Lovin' Tour has been an amazing journey for me. I've had the opportunity to think and reflect on so many important things that might be obvious for some (self-care, celebration, money, success, etc.), but they weren't for me. What better way to close the 'self-insight holiday', but to think about trust?

I'm not one that easily trusts others, but even worst… I'm not one that easily trusts myself. When I was younger I used to have a lot of trust in my potential to be able to do whatever I dreamt of. Then something happened… something broke inside of me. When I graduated from university I felt overwhelmed. I felt like I didn't really know everything I hoped I had once I had finished studied. I felt like a tiny little fish in a huge ocean of sharks. I felt I didn't have what was needed to succeed. 

I felt this way for many years… and the feeling increased the more difficult it got to find a job in design. It wasn't until early this year that I started feeling like I not only deserved to be a happy and successful designer, but also had what was needed to achieve be it. I finally started getting the trust back. It doesn't happen magically… it is a process and I'm just starting it. But, what allowed me to start that process? Well… I started getting some 'yes' after sooooo many 'no'. I started seeing truth in what people had been telling me for so long, because you know what? No matter how often you are told you are good and who tells it to you if you don't already believe it. Back when I was in No-Trust-Land I looked at my work and didn't think it was good enough even after hearing (or reading) people complimenting it (like when my family and friends tell me I'm beautiful… as long as I don't see it and believe it (work in progress), I can't trust their words.) The moment I started appreciating my uniquity my trust started coming back, and even though it is still shy and sometimes tries to run away when I experience some sort of rejection, time is helping me grow stronger in believing in me as a designer no matter what others say or don't say about me.

Trust is a state of mind, and so is happiness and success. They are like triples with dependency issues: they need each other in order to exist, and I need them too in order to feel fulfilled. 

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PS. I really want to thank Jessica, Michelle, Abby (the organiser behind the scenes) and Pierre for putting together this amazing and happy weekly party for the let 2 months. Like I said before, I've really enjoyed it and it has been an eye-opening experience. We all have our own thoughts and opinions about many (if not all) of the themes discussed in the tour, but we don't always stop to think about them. Realising what each of the concepts was for me, has given me a lot of insight about myself and the person I want to be not only as a designer but also as simply MaJo. Thank you!!! It's been FUN :)