SHARING OUR VOICES- PAULA SANGARE

First let me say a big hearty thank you to Angie for allowing me to partake in SOV on her blog.

What inspired me to become a writer? One thing I have noticed about myself is the things I loved as a child or teenager seem to have gotten lost because life happens.  Let me clarify by giving a little of my back story.

I attended Cosmetology school at  age 18, I obtained a license to be a Nail Technician before I completed because school didn't pay and I already had a son to provide for. Once in the field I was very good at it and made a very good living, needless to say cosmetology school would sit on the back burner for 5 years before I returned because the industry was changing and I knew I had to change with it. I completed Cosmetology school and this has been my profession now for more than 20 years.

I now own The Lotus Salon Boutique. I sell upscale women clothes on one side and perform hair services on the other side. I also sell my own label of an all Natural Bath and Body line, The Natural You.

Is this a plug for my business or does this have something to do with my inspiration as a writer.....YESSSS!

My reason for sharing that story is when Life happens we tend to forget those things we are passionate about  and do what we must do to provide for those we love. By the time I was 19, I was a single mother of 2 and a caregiver to my mother, as well as working 16 hour days.  The things I loved to do and were passionate about were soon  forgotten.

I was good at doing hair and nails (really good) then someone would ask me how did I learn(everyone knows cosmo school teaches the book work not the actual technique) or they might ask if I always wanted to be a hairstylist. These questions made me think back to when I was eight years old and all of my barbie dolls and doll heads (you know the ones without a body) were line up along a wall in my bedroom. Each with their hair completely styled and on display. So my answer became yes I did; although, I forgot. Somehow, God made a way for me to end up here in spite of.

The same was true for my passion of nail artistry. After being asked the same question, I would think back to a time I would sit on my back porch making nail extension out of clay. I would walk around with my fingers spread out before me until my sister slammed a door in my face, causing them to bend back, like the wicked witch of OZ's feet curled up after the house landed on her (my sister was a mean child).

I stumbled on another passion of mine about 2 years ago- writing. After I joined a local writing group someone asked those questions again. I thought back to a time when I had a poetry book I wrote in daily, or when I would sit outside looking at the sky wondering if there were other worlds out there, or what it would be like if I had magic powers. I would make up stories of make believe people and places. I didn't write them all down. Some were just the friends in my head.

The point I'm trying to make is when you can't see the forest for the trees, and you are truly passionate about something, yeah, life may happen.  It may alter your  path, but I believe inevitably we all find our way back to what's in our hearts. Writing is in my heart, a passion that has come back to me. I am inspired to write because it's who I've always been. It's who I am, and who I will continue to be.

Staying true to myself and my passion!
Paula
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