Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Josephine Cardin-Vargo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Josephine, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I would say my purpose found me. I genuinely know I came into this world with my purpose to create and tell stories. The greater question is how I came back to it after having let it go for so long. I feel an immense amount of gratitude for having always known what I wanted. It’s hard for me to answer the question, “when did you first realize…?” because my earliest memories are filled with interest and excitement about being a performer, artist, and storyteller. My childhood was spent in imaginary worlds of pretend, drawing, and going to dance class. And before life and all it’s harsh realities took over what I wanted to be when I grew up was never a question.
So where did I lose that? It wasn’t all at once, but more a series of small events that added up over time that made me doubt my talents and ability to believe I could achieve what I knew I was always meant to do. I never let it go completely, but managed to always keep things at arm’s length. Pursue it enough not to let it go, but keep it at enough distance to feel safe from the possibility of failure. Having children was the big moment of realization that I wasn’t living my purpose. There’s nothing like staring into a little face you brought into the world to bring up a mirror on yourself. How could I teach them to live their dreams if I wasn’t living mine? So, I set course to do that, and have never, and will never stop.
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 will always pridefully be a multi-hyphenated creative, but in order of my greatest passions, I am an actor-artist-author-coach. I spend the majority of my time dedicated to my acting career, which means auditioning, studying scripts, preparing for roles, and being on set. This is the only one of my pursuits I rarely see as a “job,” because I so enjoy every aspect of it. Even auditioning, which many actors can do without, I genuinely enjoy. I’m always filled with gratitude when auditions come my way and see them more as opportunities to play, explore, and challenge myself than as a daunting task of hoping someone will “choose me.” When you learn just to let go, it becomes an opportunity to get better, collaborate with other professionals in the field, and make new connections with people who haven’t seen your work.
As an artist these days I spend more of my time in the business aspect of it selling the hundreds of pieces I’ve created over the last 15 years. I work with several galleries, art reps, and agencies that represent my work worldwide. I’m sure I’ll make new work in the future, but for now, I’m content getting to share the work I’ve already created, which has a lot of meaning for me.
Author is a new one for me. I’ve written a lot in my life, including screenwriting, but I most recently published my first book called, The Short Book on Patience (a.k.a Self-Sabotage), which is all about the impatience that can set in when one is trying to pursue their goal/dreams. It’s a quick read that’s great for anyone who feels they’re in a stuck place with pursuing their passion.
Lastly, as a coach, I am co-founder of Full-Expression: The Human Condition with my wife Christine, who is a licensed clinical social worker. Together we run programs to help people cultivate that self-love and self-trust I was talking about. The concept is that we learn better together, so participants go through a series of themes where they learn and grow—together.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Self-love, Self-trust, and dedication. Self-love is by far the most important quality to living not only the life you desire but more importantly, a life that is authentically you. Without it, one can easily be misguided to live for others or live up to the description that others have made up for you, which only ends in stress and a loss of self. Once you love yourself enough to gain the awareness of who you are and what you want for your life, self-trust is essential in cultivating a sense of groundedness and “knowing,” that you can and will accomplish anything you set out to do. Once you’re there, it’s all about dedication! And I don’t mean working “harder,” I mean staying committed to pursuing what you want, especially in the hard moments that look like set-backs or failure on the surface, and being able to see those as opportunities and moments of growth, which you absolutely need in order to be great at anything.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
Gratitude practice! It feels like a buzzword out there, but it’s genuinely been a game-changer for me. It’s all about the energy you put out into the world. When you’re in moments of stress and overwhelm you have two choices: fight against the hard feelings by going into the negative and/or victim place of life being hard, or you can choose to flow with it. Allow yourself to feel what you’re feeling AND keep moving forward. Then take a moment to think of what you’re grateful for. Thinking of what you do have versus what you don’t automatically puts you in a different space energetically. I start every day by expressing gratitude for my life, my health, and the love and support I have from my incredible wife and our combined four children. It automatically puts me in a place of welcoming more goodness into my world.
Also, allow yourself to be human and bring some self-compassion to hard moments. Listen to your body and know when it’s time to take a break, go for a walk, or pay attention to your breathing. Those are small things so often overlooked that are the key things to bringing you back to center. And lastly, start to look at everything as an opportunity—to learn, grow, or change. More often than not, the hard moments are gateways to the greatest achievements; if you’re open to seeing it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cardinphotography.com
- Instagram: josephinecardinvargo
Image Credits
headshot: Jovani Demetrie
