Meet Witty
Before emigrating to Canada, I spent twenty years in the career development field in England, working with every age group from high school through to university students and career changers. My undergraduate degree was in History. I took a break from formal studying for 30 years before going back to school for a Masters in Spiritual Formation with a concentration in Spiritual Direction. I graduated from Portland Seminary, OR in May 2019 and followed up with the certificate program in Spiritual Direction.
Five Things About Me...
1. My name is not short for anything.
2. I am married to Mark. We have three children; two married and one teen. We have two grandchildren and a dog called Sherlock.
3. I try to live wholeheartedly in the way of Christ. I am a work in progress.
4. I enjoy movies, books, podcasts, comedies, food, oceans, mountains & photography.
5. For those who know personality tools, my MBTI letters are ENFP and my enneagram number is 7.
A Few More Interests...
Photography:
Beautiful Ordinary.
I love photography and making documentary-style pictures, capturing the regular and beautiful lives of ordinary people at work, rest, and play. My favorite people to photograph are children. There are no pretensions or masks. They smile, cry, stomp their feet, sulk, laugh, and dance whenever they want.
This was snapped at one of my son's soccer games. The daughter of a friend delighted me by asking if she could showcase a twirl from one of her dance classes. I was more than happy to oblige! Children make the best photographic subjects because they are simply themselves. There is much we can learn from them.
Who Am I?
Identity.
You can see that there are many aspects to me. There are experiences, knowledge, likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, abilities, motivations, values, roles, and relationships. Getting to the heart of one's identity is a complex endeavor - as I discovered when we moved to Canada. For the first time in twenty-five years, other than breaks to have my children, I had no paid employment. I found myself struggling to find an answer to the inevitable question “what do you do?” It forced me to think about questions of identity and significance. It's an ongoing conversation with myself and others but I am coming to understand that I am more than my job or career aspirations, grades, or role. I am more than what I do or achieve. This knowledge grounds me.
Golden Threads:
Discernment & Vocation.
Over the years, I have been able to discern that whatever the various calls on my life, some central themes have emerged. I realize that wherever I am and whatever role I may happen to have, common strands have manifested themselves, weaving their way through my years. In truth, vocation is not a static one-time call. There are many calls upon us as our seasons of life and our circumstances change. Some are broad and underpin our very ways of being in our world, such as the call to be faithful in all we do. Others are more specific for particular times and places. And then, there are yet others that whisper to us throughout our days, weeks, and months, so quietly we are not aware until we take time to listen.
The work of discernment is never quite finished.
As I have reflected on my life, I have been discerning that my calling is...
……”To be an attentive presence by creating safe spaces where others can discover all they are called to be and do.”