Boxes Are Meant to Be Broken. Creativity, wellness, and the courage to live a non-linear life

When people ask me what I do for work, it’s often a difficult question to answer. Not because I’m unsure or lack confidence in what I do, but because people sometimes have a hard time understanding a non-linear career path.

As the founder of Embody Pilates, and having worked in wellness for nearly two decades, it’s an easy enough response, and often the one that allows others to quickly understand my work. But if I simply place myself in the box of “wellness,” I leave out other parts of who I am and how I contribute to the world. Those parts, like our health, can also create positive change, inspiration, and growth.

So, when I go on to say that I’m also the founder of Kreation, a creative company dedicated to producing my original music, plays, and choreography, I sometimes get a look. It can be a look of curiosity or confusion. Occasionally there’s an assumption that my wellness work is the “serious” job and Kreation fulfills the more whimsical artistic side of my life. After all, it’s often said that making a living as an artist is difficult these days, especially in a rapidly changing world.

But what many people may not immediately see, though many certainly do, is that I feel equally fulfilled educating others on the importance of a healthy mind and body as I do writing a song or choreographing a dance.

Movement and art are intrinsically connected for me. Both are deeply healing, and both influence the work I do with clients. While I pour creativity and expression into my work as a movement specialist, I also consider myself a writer, performer, and creator beyond my role as founder of Embody Pilates.

Our brains naturally like things to be simple and easy to categorize. In many ways that makes life easier to navigate. Yet life is often richer and more expansive than a single title or description. Many of us carry more than one interest, more than one passion, and more than one way we want to contribute to the world.

For many people, financial stability and career identity are closely linked. A career is often defined as the work that supports us, pays the bills and puts food on the table. Other interests, whether artistic or otherwise, are sometimes labeled hobbies or side projects.

But those pursuits can still play a meaningful role in our lives. They often nourish parts of us that bring joy, curiosity, and creativity.

I believe there is something inside all of us that dares to dream beyond our comfort zones. Most of us want similar things: optimal health, financial security, meaningful relationships, and a sense of purpose. And for many people, the path they have chosen has created deeply fulfilling and successful lives.

At the same time, it can also be healthy to remain curious about what else might be possible.

Many of us remember passions we had earlier in life. Perhaps you loved singing in the school choir, playing a sport, painting, writing, or performing. Life evolves, circumstances change, and priorities shift as they naturally do. Yet the parts of ourselves that once found joy in those experiences often remain within us in some form.

There is something admirable about hard work, dedication, and building a stable life. For many people, that path has brought incredible achievements and deep fulfillment. But it can also take courage to occasionally ask yourself what else might inspire you at any stage of life.

Maybe it’s an entrepreneurial idea you’ve thought about for years. Maybe it’s traveling somewhere new, learning a language, or exploring a creative pursuit you once loved. Perhaps you’ve always had a fascination with comedy and wondered what it might be like to try stand-up one day.

Whatever it may be, there is room in life for curiosity.

Live your life fully. Appreciate the path you’re on. But never feel that the door to growth, creativity, or new possibilities must close. You may wear many hats at once, as I do, or you may explore different ones at different stages of life.

Both paths are beautiful.

The only constant in life is change. We see it in our bodies as we grow and age, and we can awaken it in our minds when we remain open to learning and evolving. Movement teaches us this every day, that growth comes from exploration, from curiosity, from stepping slightly beyond what feels familiar. Sometimes the most interesting discoveries happen when we allow ourselves to step outside the boxes we once thought defined us.