We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dawn Hunt a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Dawn, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Hi. I’m Dawn, and I’m a control freak. I like things to go the way I want them, or the way I plan them. And since the universe has a twisted sense of humor, for me, nothing goes as planned.
Most people would not consider resilience to be learned skill, or something we choose. But I think, like everything, we have a choice. No, we can’t control others actions, or when the powers that be decide to lob a huge suck fest at us in the form of a flat tire, a loss of a loved one, a career set back or even something as tragic as loosing your home in a disaster. You can, however, choose how you respond to these things. This, to me is resilience.
In 2009 on an uncommonly warm February pre-dawn morning, my partner and I were suddenly woken up by pounding on our front door. A panicked voice screaming “Get out! FIRE!” The second story of our condo building was engulfed in flames as sixteen family scrambled out into the dark morning in our pajamas clutching pets, children and each other. As we sat across the street watching our lives, homes, and our known futures burn the feeling of despair was palatable. In that moment, I knew my life was changed forever.
Over the next few months, as the dust, and insurance, settled, we had so many things to think about. The first being, how would my partner and I choose to let this affect us. Would we give in to the despair, the hurt, the fear of what we had just been through? Would we choose to blame this tragedy for all the things in our life we weren’t happy with? Would we dwell on this or would we find gratitude that we made it out alive and move forward from this?
I’m happy to report that we chose to find joy and gratitude. Yes, we chose. We made a decision to be resilient. After months of grief, rebuilding, and unknowing we decided to reevaluate our path and choose to be happy, grateful and coarse correct to a not just rebuild our life, but to build a new life even better then the one we had before.
Loosing our home along with the future trajectory we were on was one of the scariest and more transformative experiences I’ve ever been through. It taught me that I can not control life, or what it may bring. All I can control is how I respond to, and react to what it has to offer. The power to choose to pick myself up after I’m knocked down is my super power, and it is something I work on in the smallest moments of disappointment as well as life changing set backs. Because I know what I can accomplish when I choose resilience and gratitude, I know I will overcome anything that falls into my path.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a Kitchen Witch. Yup. A real life witch who mixes up magic in the kitchen by putting intention and positive energy in every recipe. Cucina Aurora Kitchen Witchery, was born out of the spiritual practices of intentional cooking, connecting to mother Earth through food and inspiring others to be mindful of not just what they are cooking, but why and how they are cooking. On the surface, Cucina Aurora is a specialty foods company making olive oil infusions, delicious tomato sauce, and authentic risotto mixes, just to name a few. But these amazing and delicious products are just the medium we use to bring people together. Creating soft spaces to land and inspirations for togetherness around a table full of great food is really our mission. I’ve even written a few books on the subject of Kitchen Witchcraft and Spiritual Nutrition!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I have always had trouble conforming to the way things are taught in schools. I was a terrible student, a bad test taker and defiantly colored outside the lines. It is a deeply held belief that having to learn things my own way and figure out how to maneuver in spaces that were uncomfortable academically gave me the advantage of learning to problem solve. As I’ve grown and learned one of the most important lessons of my life is that I don’t know everything and that I am often wrong! And when I don’t know something, I will find someone who does and learn from them! Surrounding yourself with people who are better, smarter, more innovative then you, helps you to raise your vibe and grow.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
The very first audio book I ever listened to was The New Psychology of Success by Brian Tracey. Though it’s a little out dated this book had a profound impact on me. Not only did it blow my mind open, proving with science to back it up, that we are infinitely powerful creatures capable of controlling our minds and the outcomes of our choices, it also got me addicted to audio books and learning! Never having been a great student in a traditional atmosphere. This book showed me that auditory learning is something I am great at! After that I have not looked back! I listen to at least 2 or 3 self development or business books a month while driving. After this I listened to the amazing, incomparable, inspirational Jen Sincero’s YOU ARE A BADASS. There are too many nuggets of wisdom to write them here. Her work cuts through the BS and gets to the core of personal success and what holds us back.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.CucinaAurora.com
- Instagram: @CucinaAurora
- Facebook: @CucinaAurora/Food
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg_ZxSnKkyDP33u9eNLAE2w
- Other: Conversational Witchcraft Podcast with Dawn the Kitchen Witch https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cucinaaurora
Image Credits
Product and Food photography Credit Whitney Maka Barney
