Let Me Introduce Myself

My name is Zorica. I am 46 and I’m a Gemini – both my sign and Ascendant are in Gemini. This goes to say I’m really outgoing, talkative and breezy, right? Well, not really and not always. Some other aspects account for my highly sensitive and somewhat introverted nature. I feel things deeply and I connect to all living things. And to inanimate ones, for that matter. Needless to say, this can be very exhausting.

My Path up to Now – English and Other Influences

For the past 20 years or so, my career path has been winding through different realms of English – I have been a teacher and a translator/editor, translating mostly from Serbian into English. I have also done a bit of writing in English. My choice when it comes to this profession definitely had to do with the Geminian fascination with language and communication.

And yet, English was actually my second love. Before that, or perhaps simultaneously, there was Psychology. This is what I turn to whenever I need to understand, encourage, support or motivate. And if your job involves helping people to start speaking English, you will find that being able to offer understanding, encouragement, support and motivation can be of great help. I also often assist people in expressing their thoughts and ideas in English in written form. In this case, empathy is required to understand what they are trying to say, but also to provide assistance and counter feelings of frustration and inadequacy that usually arise. Once again, my flair for Psychology comes into play.

Learning New and Quite Different Languages

About 10 years ago a third fascination emerged and it has been a steadily rising tide in my life. This is my fascination with the body and movement, and it seems to be revealing another calling in my life, in addition to teaching.

First, there was dance. Tango, kizomba, bachata, salsa – it was through these different dances that the body’s defenses started to melt away. Then, at the age of 44, I became a yoga instructor and a Reiki practitioner. And most recently, I have turned to body-oriented psychotherapy, helping me to establish a deeper connection with the body and to understand its language. It turns out that the language of the body is another language I am supposed to learn. Perhaps learning English was an introduction, demonstrating what it takes to truly master a language: time, patience, readiness to start over after a failure, determination and persistence, and above all – an unstoppable attitude.

A Holistic Teacher in the Making

Knowing all these different languages has helped me become aware of my split between the mind and the body. I am now finding ways to employ all parts of myself to work together. Rumi said ‘What you seek is seeking you’ – could it be that what I have been seeking is now finding its way to me? I am now making a transition from being a ‘holistic English teacher’ (as I sometimes joke about myself) towards being a more whole person. With curiosity and excitement, I am listening to this more whole and more wholesome me offering her authentic voice to the world. I am listening to the sound of that voice confidently join in the sea of voices and sounds that make up this world.

I have often wondered how all my different interests and pursuits will come together. Teaching English, translation, writing, Points of You coaching tool, storytelling, yoga and Ayurveda, Reiki, dance and now body-oriented therapy – how could they possibly come together to shape my career path?

For now, I understand that they are all elements of my calling, of what I came here for. I have also noticed that there are uniting, core beliefs behind everything I do. I often feel their wonderful, supportive energy as I go about my days among the challenges of the material world.

How to Stay Motivated and on Track

This is often easier said than done. Through the most difficult periods that I have experienced, keeping these beliefs in mind is what has helped me stay on track and centered.

• Everything is interconnected. All is one. Everything we do echoes through the Universe, creating ripples and making an impact.
• Everything comes to us exactly when we need it, whether we understand this or not.
• Life is a miracle and it should be about joy and playfulness, about enjoying abundance of forms and experiences. It is also about togetherness and unifying the differences, while cherishing the diversity.

Although I strongly believe in these, I sometimes forget about them and I need to remind myself. Feel free to adopt them if they also resonate with you.