On being a designer learning code and the challenges of re-inventing yourself.

I remember the exact moment I started falling in love with coding. And believe me, my former self would never would say that...

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

We so often define who we are early on in life. And in that process, it can be difficult to re-create yourself later on. Did you ever play that game where you had to think of adjectives starting with the same letter as your name to describe yourself? Well, I was ‘artistic’ and ‘adventurous’.

And my life had thus far reflected that.

I was the girl who drew dolphins and Disney princesses, went to a special Arts school and wrote stories. Later, while my friends were getting mortgages and climbing the career ladder, I backpacked and hitch-hiked solo around Canada, Europe and Asia. I placed a high value on independence and freedom over a stable income and routine.

In society, there’s a general idea floating around that you’ll be successful and love what you do if you follow your passion. But what if you don’t have one passion? What if you’re interested in SO. MANY. THINGS. I wanted to be a Disney animator! A jockey! A detective! All of the above! So that’s where it falls apart…