We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Margaret Havens Obenauf. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Margaret Havens below.
Hi Margaret Havens, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
Family, Cultural Experiences and Unexpected Life Situations.
As the second of four children, I was always the adventurous one and was given many opportunities where I had to learn how to overcome any and all obstacles put in front of me. Early in life I learned how to fend for myself and even went as far as labeling myself the “second mother” of the family. My parents taught me strength, love and gave me many opportunities but also felt it was important to give me opportunities to sort through the obstacles of life even at a young age.
My father was born in Germany and at the age of 7, I had the opportunity to go stay with my Great Aunt and spend summer in school there. The Great Aunt who I stayed with was loving but also blind and did not speak English, so even at the age of 7, I had to learn how to get to school, get home from school all while making new friends and learning a new language. It’s an experience that I wouldn’t trade and it taught me so many valuable lessons from having to problem solve, open myself up and work through any insecurities that I may have had in order to make friends as well as provide me with an appreciation for culture on a grander scale.
After sorting through and developing a love and appreciation for Germany at the age of 7, I had a pretty typical life where having a great group of family and friends with not atypical situations but with many situations where my Dad and Mom would push me to work through any problems that arose on my own. Right after I graduated College, I moved to Colorado to be on my own and explore all that life had to offer. However, this all changed in February of 2018.
In February of 2018, when I was 32, I went to bed like any other night but unlike every other night my heart stopped. My then boyfriend for some reason beyond any rationale explanation woke up and realized that I was not breathing and my heart and stopped. He called 911 and after applying CPR until the paramedics arrived they used a defibrillator and were able to get my heard to restart. I was “dead” for 6 minutes and was put into a medically induced comma until they could determine why my heart had stopped. They were eventually able to determine that I have Long QT syndrome and now have an ICD implant that will shock me if my heart ever stops again. When you die, it puts a lot of things into perspective but for a long time after I died, I had to learn how to follow my heart again but also regain confidence that when I go to sleep that I am safe. This has subsided now, in large part because my now husband is sleeping next to me. This unexpected experience did give me an opportunity to take a step back and re-evaluate everything in life, the paths that I was headed down and where I wanted to go, however, it also taught me that in any situation you need to follow your heart and power through. For me, my creativity was that outlet. I am a strong believer that if you follow your heart(s), utilize the people and resources around you, then it will always take you to where you are meant to be. As if I ever needed a reminder of that, my nephew at two and a half months old was admitted to the hospital and was there until shortly after he turned 10 months old when he received a heart transplant on July 10, 2024!! His diagnoses was not related to mine but these situations have shown me and our family just how strong we can be as long as we stay together, fight for each other and always remain fiercely loyal to one another because after all, YOLT, You Only Live Twice.
My family (including friends), cultural experiences, and unexpected life experiences reminded me just how resilient we all can be as long as we remain a unit that is full of love and support. Additionally I have always found an outlet through my creative gene and love for the arts and I️ consider that to be the perfect storm!
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 grew up loving art and have a creative soul. I’ve always been constantly creating things to bring a smile to everyone that I possibly can. This has ended up coming to life in so many different ways, when I was teaching I would create custom handmade coloring books for the children based on what they loved. Now my time and effort has been focused on building an Art Collective called mousina art.
At mousina art, we are focused on spreading that joy in all ways possible. Every day, every human has the ability to do even the smallest act for someone else- even if it is just to get a smile. My art stems from my everyday experiences, and the main goal is always to pass it forward and get that ripple effect to spread the joy!
We started out have a few sweatshirts designs and have since expanded to where we now have Art Prints, Apparel (sweatshirts, shirts, tanks, shorts, etc.) and Accessories all with custom designs that I’ve created and we bring to life across various formats. mousina art also gives me an opportunity to provide a platform for other creative souls who haven’t yet found a home or the confidence to share their amazing art with the world.
You can check us out online at mousinaart.com, on Facebook/Instagram, at the Ohio State Fair from July 24-August 8 and at many upcoming events around Columbus, Ohio.
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?
ALWAYS follow your instincts. As I said before, you only live twice (in my case at least). I always ask people to consider what they wish they would have done if they were laying on their death bed right now. Live as if it is the last day, LOVE fiercely, and always consider that the person next to you may be going through something that we could never understand. For me, the most important thing was always keeping the vision of myself and where I wanted to be first and foremost. Let those around you help you where needed, and just keep going until you get to the destination.
Go big or go home! (that’s what she said).
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
One week ago, I would have said that it was the wait for the heart for my 10 month old nephew, however we were so blessed that he found a match on July 9th, and has been thriving. The challenge that comes with that is wrapping my head around the fact that another family suffered a great loss, and while we are eternally grateful, my family and I all know that our blessing was someone else’s worst nightmare. Much of my art came at a time when we were not sure the fate of my nephew; it was a distraction and a way to get emotions out in a healthy way. Honestly, my biggest challenge is always trying to find the next journey that I can positively be a part of because I have so much to give and there are too many people in need. Even a smile or friendly gesture can go a long way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mousinaart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mousina_art
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MousinaArt
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/MousinaArt/
Image Credits
Margaret Havens Obenauf
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