Meet Annette Van De Kamp

We were lucky to catch up with Annette Van De Kamp recently and have shared our conversation below.

Annette, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

By focusing on joy. The simple motivation of doing things because they bring joy, no matter what others think of it, helped me let go of that worry. Bringing as much joy to the world, and to my own life, is much more important than the opinion of others–besides, we often wrongly imagine others’ negative opinions. We imagine the people around as as judgmental, when they are probably not even thinking about us.

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?

My day job is as editor-in-chief of a weekly non-profitJewish community paper. I write a variety of stories and work with a small staff to publish that paper weekly. We are under the umbrella of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, which means we are surrounded by a large number of other agencies, from daycare to hospice, from dance lessons to a fully functioning theater. It’s inspiring to not work in a vacuum, as I am exposed to so many different activities every day. In my spare time I paint, I teach art classes at my Reform Temple to kids from pre-K through 7th grade, and I write fiction.
I was born and raised in the Netherlands, and moved to Nebraska after meeting my husband at university. And although I told myself it was temporary, Omaha got under my skin and I cannot imagine living and working anywhere else.
My paintings help me get away from language and just focus on images and feelings. When you work as an editor, and when you do that work in a language that is not native to you, you sometimes need to get away from the words. Because my work is so intuitive (I often don’t know what’s going to happen when I first pick up the brush) I think it resonates with people.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The ability to say yes to new things. New countries, new careers, new experiences. Silence that voice in your head that says “should you really get on that plane?” or “Are you good enough?” “Do you know enough?”
From time to time, you have to recognize that new experiences are possible, present themselves, and allow yourself to jump in. Lose control a little bit. Get on that roller coaster, even if you’re scared.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

Getting me a passport and encouraging me to travel. Letting me explore Paris with a friend by the time I was 16. Letting me move out and not asking too many questions about everything I did while I was away at University. Not blinking when I stayed out all night with friends while I was still in high school. Not stopping me when I left for the US, even though they probably wanted to. They never clipped my wings.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: avdk1971
• Facebook: Blue Hour Gallery

Image Credits

Annette van de Kamp