Design A Life Full of Possibilities

 

Dear Lovelies, I’m so delighted to share with you this interview the lovely Susan Papazian did with me about a life of possibilities on her blog:

 

If anyone truly understands the power to change, to design a life full of possibilities, it’s Carla Coulson.

 

Carla says the biggest obstacle of her life was the first 35 years. Running a business that didn’t fuel her passion left her emotionally depleted and longing for adventure and connection. Who knew all those years ago saying YES to herself would lay the foundation to her stellar career as a Paris based photographer and publisher of 8 books with Penguin and hundreds of feature articles in magazines like Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Gourmet Traveller and Collezioni.

Today, Carla calls Paris her home and spends most of her time working as a creative life coach, helping women all around the world to reconnect to their creativity, passion, personal power and purpose. And it doesn’t always have to be grand and world-changing, Carla says. It just has to bring deep personal satisfaction to you.

Read on as Carla talks about love, joy and how creativity has given her the opportunity to connect with herself and the army of women who are also saying YES.

Over to you Carla…

Your job can be driven by results and outcomes. Your work is your legacy. How do we find value in our work, rather than in our job?

My advice is always do something that brings you joy or where you feel a sense of true purpose and deep satisfaction. There is a lot written about doing what you love and I have had the fortune to do that in both my photography and coaching careers, ultimately if you have a strong sense of creating something worthwhile, serving a group of people whose lives will be impacted by your work, that brings an immense satisfaction that never feels like a job. It’s like mainlining life, you feel like you have a reason for being on this planet and everything becomes clear. You have a deep sense of belonging, to yourself, to the community and to this glorious planet. Life feels good.

What were your obstacles, setbacks, triumphs or joys in your road to defining your work? 

I think the biggest obstacle for me was the first 35 years! Not having any true guidance or tools to understand what it was that I liked or how I could design a life and go make it happen. The idea that I could co-create my life, have a true purpose that I was deeply connected to, was foreign to me. Like many people I started figuring it out when big life problems started happening that I could no longer ignore. I thank the obstacles, the setbacks for pushing me out of my comfort zone, causing me sometimes to break down so I was forced to change how I did things. I now love adversity because I know there is a chance for growth.

The first greatest joy was when I said yes to myself and I said no to the way I was living and had the courage to walk away from a comfortable life to go find the right life for me. For the first time I started asking myself what was it that I liked or what could a new path look like? Then I allowed myself the luxury to go and check it out. The joys have been numerous, moving to Italy and Paris, becoming a photography, gaining self-love and self-esteem, realising you alway have space for new friends and love, life can begin again in a heartbeat, making a life being on the road, feeling alive and seeing other people’s lives influenced by that is an immeasurable joy. That we are all connected.

 

Read the rest of the interview at Susan Papazian’s Blog here.

 

You can check out Susan’s amazing work at her site and give her a follow on Instagram.

Carla x