My Mojo Stories

Healer

More About Sharon

Sharon Payne wears many hats … and she loves each one! She is a life-long learner with an inquisitive mind and the curiosity to ask “why” and to seek new growth. Sharon is a successful project leader with over 20 years of experience in the educational assessment and survey research industries, working in both business development and project management. In addition to project leadership, Sharon is a natural communicator with exceptional interpersonal, written, and verbal skills and has been a writer, editor, and writing instructor. She often takes on freelance writing and editing jobs. Sharon has been a musician since as far back as she can remember. Her early musical experiences including singing “God Bless America” at a family reunion at age 4! She has sung in numerous choral groups over the years, has played the piano for over 40 years, and played the bassoon from grade school into her 30s. Music is one of the most important ways that Sharon keeps her mojo alive, and she has recently taken up playing classical guitar as well. Sharon has studied the healing arts of Reiki and Qigong and is a Reiki Master, trained through Stone Circle Reiki, and a Qigong Level 3 Practitioner, trained through Spring Forest Qigong. She hopes to expand her healing practice during the next year, to bring the benefit of energy healing to many. Finally, Sharon is the mom to a totally amazing 22-year-old son, whom she adores with all her heart.

Where to Find Sharon

• In the Village 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spaynola/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smpayne/
• Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/sharon.m.payne

My Story

Sometimes we know.  We know what we want, who we want to be, what stories we want to create.  Sometimes we reinvent ourselves or discover ourselves for the very first time by struggling with change.  This is a story from many years ago of finding and listening to my essential self.

I sit alone at my kitchen counter, glancing around the room and notice at once the missing backpacks, piles of school books, and dropped sweatshirts.  The voices of young people laughing, talking, and blaring music that had so often filled this space are gone and I feel it.  I feel the absence of my children.  I feel the emptiness, greater than in my house, I feel it in my heart.

I am in transition as it is so often phrased.  My children have gone off to college, off to live on their own and begin lives that are independent of me.  How strange, I too, am beginning a life independent of my children.

I was not much older than my son is now when he was born.  I was so excited to welcome him into the world and to be a mother and yet I knew I was very young and that there would be many things I would miss out on while raising children. One day, I told myself, when they are grown, I will do all those things I was putting on hold.

And now that “one-day” is here.  It’s an interesting expression, vague, distant and without much direction.

I was swimming in uncertainty, reaching for a place to belong, to feel like my essential self

I started that journey with much anxiety, fear, doubt of my abilities at making a career change this late in life (doesn’t seem like it was that late now!) and more fear.  But I pushed forward because it was my “one-day.”

My first memory of wanting to be a therapist, wanting to help people was in third grade, while I didn’t really have any concept of what a therapist was at the time, I knew it was connected to my essential self. But, life, expectations from others and my own personal growth filled the space of years, marriage, children, work and divorce came and I told myself that when my children were grown, then I would go back to school and make a career change, become a therapist.

I started to question what I was doing.  Was this the right decision?  Was I in over my head?  Am I too old to make such an investment and change in my life?   I felt overwhelmed and unsure.

I considered not continuing, but when I played that out in my mind, it repeatedly left me feeling disappointed and empty.  I was looking for clarity from every place I thought I might find it; the instructors, friends, fellow classmates and my children, yet the clarity was inside of me all along, I just needed to listen.

Many years and a number of transitions have passed.  I believe transitions are a way of life, a constant on our journey.  They often begin with a loss, ask us to let go of the familiar, face uncertainty, and struggle with acceptance. But they also give us a chance to discover and use our strengths, to imagine a new possibility and new beginning.  A chance to redefine ourselves and a chance to honor our essential self.

Without question, I have learned my essential self is something inside me that gets stronger with every transition I navigate, and every new beginning I embrace.

More about Erin

Therapist & Educator best describe my work world parts, but my world view is also greatly influenced and enriched by my mom, nana, wife, sister, daughter and friend parts (not to mention, the creative, curious, quiet, pensive parts). There are so many different parts to all of us, the numerous, often moving parts that make up our whole, authentic self. With over 25 years’ experience working with children, couples, families, and individuals, I bring a broad range of skills and training to my work as a therapist, educator, and consultant. I approach each interaction using a strengths-based mind-set. Together we will identify your strengths and lean into them to find solutions to challenges you are experiencing. My areas of expertise and special interests include; anxiety, divorce, separation, family transitions, childhood trauma, child behavior, and parenting.

Where to Find Erin

• In the Village
• My website: erinametz.com

  Where I’ve been:  I grew up in the small town of Warroad, Minnesota, located six miles south of Canadian border and an hour and a half north of the nearest Walmart. I consider myself to be a hardy, go-getter — you have to be when you live in Northern Minnesota. Small towns thrive off of community involvement and story-telling, and it is there that I found my passion for advocacy.   What I’m doing:  After graduating from Warroad High School in 2018, I made the seven-hour trek south to attend Gustavus Adolphus College. There, I majored in Communication Studies and I truly found my voice. It wasn’t until the second semester of my senior year that I realized that I had a developed a passion for writing. I have spent the majority of my senior year trying to obtain as much experience in the fields of Marketing and Communications as possible. Over the course of the past few months, I have fallen in love with journalism. I am just a few short weeks away from graduation and it’s scary to be just discovering this new passion of mine, however, I am committed to letting this new discovery be exciting, scary, and unknown. What I hope to do: I hope to find a career that inspires me. I identify as a changemaker, so finding a company that strives to make a positivimpact through their work is very important to me. Currently, my dream is to one day run a non-profit centered around solving the issue of food insecurity, but for now, I am looking to make an impact in a job that aligns with my core values. I am still unsure of what my future may hold as I have many dreams and aspirations. Right now, I am trying to stay as present as possible and remain thankful for the moment that I am in. It’s not every day that you graduate from college and even though I may not know what I am doing post-graduation, I am excited to see where life takes me.  

More About Ava

I grew up in the small town of Warroad, Minnesota, located six miles south of Canadian border and an hour and a half north of the nearest Walmart. I consider myself to be a hardy, go-getter — you have to be when you live in Northern Minnesota. Small towns thrive off of community involvement and story-telling, and it is there that I found my passion for advocacy. After graduating from Warroad High School in 2018, I made the seven-hour trek south to attend Gustavus Adolphus College. There, I majored in Communication Studies and I truly found my voice. It wasn’t until the second semester of my senior year (2021) that I realized that I had a developed a passion for writing. I have spent the majority of this past year trying to obtain as much experience in the fields of Marketing and Communications as possible. Post-graduation, I hope to find a career that inspires me. I identify as a changemaker, so finding a company that strives to make a positive impact through their work is very important to me. Ideally, one day I hope to run a non-profit centered around solving the issue of food insecurity, but for now, I am looking to make an impact in a job that aligns with my core values.  

Where to Find Ava

• In the Village
• My website: www.avagross.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avagross
• LinkedIN: www.linkedin.com/in/ava-gross
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ava.k.gross
• grossava13@gmail.com