We recently connected with Katrina Doran and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Katrina, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
Optimism is my nature, a natural expression. Merriam-Webster defines the word, optimism as an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events. I find being optimistic is a much more delightful experience in living. As I ponder the definition of optimism, I am drawn to the words ‘put the most favorable construction upon’ for these words relate to how I perceive my life as an artist. I actively construct my world in a way that pleases me.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am an artist who is curious about the nature of being human. I am at a new beginning with my work and I do not yet know where it will lead me. The inquiry of the new work comes from the marks over the temple of Delphi that read, “Know thyself”. I am working on some self portraits and the beginnings of new workshops for working in community with others. This work weaves together all I have studied and learned throughout my lifetime and I am excited to see what blossoms and blooms. I surprised myself recently by starting a podcast without a purpose. I show up and hit record and allow the speaking to unfold. I like to say that all of my work is a Love Letter for life and it is this Love I wish to share with the world. The new workshops and offerings will be central to “Know thyself” via explorations in creative makings, gathering in circles, writing, drawing, painting, breaking, piecing and constructing. These explorations are supported with psychosensory tools and scientific research related to how we make sense of the world and our place in it.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Qualities that have been impactful in my journey include, 1) delusion – I tend to believe anything is possible, 2) determination and 3) friendships – I trust I am never alone.
My advice for folks who are early in their journey is to discover yourself and share that with others.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I think it’s always best to get to know thyself. From here, we have gained insight into and explored our ideas of what is strong or weak and how we have used these concepts in order to survive the world. I so often see where the focusing in on strengths is used to fix or overcome a perceived fault. This is where I’d like to see us make a big shift, to come to a place of inclusion with all of us as a whole and sacred being. I believe that from this place, one that I call the heart, we work most effectively and holistically in cooperation with one another.
I also believe life is for getting to know thyself. Many things in life are difficult and challenging and some life experiences are beyond what we could imagine. Every so often, these experiences call us forward with a strength we did not know we possessed. This strength then becomes a gift we can share with others in the same way our vulnerability is a gift worthy of sharing. This is not necessarily a simple question to answer in the space of “going all in” on one way of being when we are such rich and varied creatures.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://doran-studio.mykajabi.com, https://theworldofdoranstudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katrina_doran_mosaics/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrina-doran-72746b2a/
- Other: https://doran-studio.mykajabi.com/podcasts/the-trinie-tree
Image Credits
Photos by Katrina Doran and by Denny Doran
