Q: Tell us about yourself and your dream.
KB: I am Kristen Brown. I was born and raised in a small town in western Minnesota but now live in Minneapolis with my 2.5 year old daughter and black lab, Cosmo. When people ask me what I do for a living I say I have two jobs – one I do for pay and one I do for passion. For pay, I’m the Retail Insights Director for a market research company. For passion, I’m a writer currently polishing a memoir, writing for Examiner.com and trying to get my freelancing career off the ground by blogging and getting the word out about my writing.
Q: Describe a “gray” time in your life.
KB: In September 2007, my husband, Todd, died unexpectedly of a heart attack in his sleep the morning after my sister’s wedding, leaving me alone to care for our then nine-month-old daughter. He was 30 years old with no previous symptoms or risk factors – a former college athlete who ate healthfully, exercised almost every day and was proactive about his health. For months I lived in a haze and barely remember anything after he died. I was so angry, sad and confused as to why something like this had happened to me.
Historically, I had been pretty self-absorbed and borderline crabby in general, so this event could have taken me down permanently, but after a few months, I realized that I couldn’t let this tragedy eat me alive any longer. I decided that I needed to find a way to make Todd’s death be a lesson for me and everyone that you can’t take life for granted. I wanted to be a role model for my daughter and a beacon of light for the world and I knew the only way to do that was to tell my stories and take action in my life instead of sitting passively and watching it pass me by.
Q: How are you working towards your dream?
KB: I have written a memoir called “The Best Worst Thing” that recalls my transformative journey through grief. The lessons within it are universal – love, regret, forgiveness and hope. I am hoping to finish the polishing in the next couple of months because this story needs to be told to give people hope – especially as the nation and the world struggle with negativity and hardship during these challenging economic times.
I have also realized that my career in corporate America, as I have experienced it, does not fit my passions or goals, so I am undertaking a freelance writing career in hopes of eventually getting paid for my passion. I have also applied to graduate school for my MA in Integral Theory. It is a framework that seeks to put a common thought process around any issue be it personal, business, political, environmental, spiritual, etc. Its goal is to evolve human consciousness and improve the world. I am hoping to use this theory in my writing career as I try to improve people’s experiences in life and also in the business world to consult with companies who want to be more than just money machines and actually impact the universe and the human race in a positive way.
I also volunteer for the American Heart Association. I want to bring awareness to society of the importance of heart health screenings even for those with no risk factors or symptoms. I also want to reinforce the importance of heart health for women and children and lobby for action in implementing mandatory and consistent physical education classes in schools.
Q: What challenges and fears have stood between you and your dreams? How are you working to overcome them?
KB: Grief and anger sneak up on me sometimes and take the wind out of my sails. When that happens I have to remind myself of the stories I have to tell and how they can benefit others. I also remind myself that my daughter is looking up to me and that immediately prompts me back to action.
Another challenge is that my corporate job is quite stressful and zaps my livelihood more often that I would like it to – so I am constantly reminding myself that it’s just a job, it’s not forever, and it is providing my daughter and me with income until my writing career brings in enough money (knock on wood).
Q: What inspires you to keep pushing forward when the going gets tough?
KB: Mostly my daughter – she is so young and I want her to grow up seeing a strong, responsible, happy woman as her mother (and now I’m filling the role of her father too). Knowing that every action I take is absorbed by her innocent little mind motivates me to do positive things for myself and the world.
Q: If you could give one piece of advice to someone else who is struggling to move beyond “the gray” and follow a dream, what would it be?
KB: Remember that it is gray now, but as time passes, light does start to sneak back in – slowly but surely. It’s up to you to expedite that process by finding the things you’re passionate about, the things that make you happy, the things that motivate you – and keep those as the main drivers in your life – and put them into action. Healing isn’t an instant change that happens overnight, but an ongoing journey. Every day something new will happen even if it’s just one more minute of happy thoughts compared to the day before – and eventually you will emerge on the other side of the darkness a stronger, more resilient and happier person because of the challenges you have experienced. Take action on your passions.
To learn more about Kristen Brown and “The Best Worst Thing,” visit her at: www.kristenkbrown.com.
Are you actively pursuing or living a dream? If so, I’d love to hear from you! Please e-mail me at: Erika (dot) Liodice (at sign) hotmail (dot) com.
