Applicant #45: Aimée Cartier

Aimée Cartier is a mom from Vashon.

My video application:

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A bit about me:

My grandfather taught me that life is a game and it is meant to be enjoyed. And I still endeavor to live my life that way. A lot of time that means finding the humorous in the mundane, some of the time that means laughing at the some of the not so funny situations that arise, but most of the time to me it means remembering that I am the active creator of my experiences and that I do have a choice in what I experience and how I feel.

I have a three-month-old son who sleeps through the night and a husband who makes me laugh often and loudly, both of whom I am eternally grateful for.

I’ve been a writer for many years and have even authored a book. (It’s called Getting Answers, Using Your Intuition to Discover Your Best Life.) I blog regularly on my wordpress blog sites: Spreading Blessings, and Living Intuitively. In addition to being an author and speaker, I am also an intuitive—or in other words a psychic.

When I tell people this they sometimes think it is very weird or woo- woo, but when they get to know me they find that I’m actually quite down to earth and normal. My intuition is just very naturally honed. I use it constantly to discern the best course for my life and I use it professionally to serve others.

Grace and ease are among my primary personal guiding mottos. I find that the best things for me often come naturally and with little effort when I go with the flow and rely on those two words. When things come easily and with grace I know I’m on the right track in my life. And I find myself constantly awed and amazed at just how much joy it contains.

My blog post:

Before I had a baby I couldn’t even count the number of times that someone said to me, “It changes you— forever.” I would always nod. I thought they were talking about having another being to care for, and loving that being with all your heart, or that now everything about you including your sleep would be linked to this tiny individual. But those aren’t the changes that surprised me.

From the moment I gave birth to my son, I felt different on a cellular level. The first time I noticed this affected me in tangible ways I was walking into a friend’s house holding my baby. As I entered, a 120lbs. pit-bull that I had never seen before literally lunged at the baby. Everyone in the room gasped.

Normally, I can be quite afraid of dogs. My husband is sort of a dog whisperer. So when we are out walking all kinds of dogs come up to us to chat with him. Any dog will approach him, even the kind that are normally not totally friendly. Sometimes after the dog’s initial curiosity wears off I’ve felt the dog turn unpredictable. On all of these occasions my husband is totally calm. I am terrified. Inside I start talking to myself, “Don’t act afraid. The dog will know.” My body clenches up in fear, while I try to calm it with my mind, and act as normal as I can.

Walking into my friend’s house that day faced with a unknown pit-bull charging my baby, my reaction surprised me. My only thought was a completely and utterly calm, “That’s not going to happen.” Without an ounce of fear I strengthened my grip on the floor, turned my body to the side and extended my palm toward the dog. I knew that dog was not going to get to my baby or me. Period.

Honesty, it’s been surprising to me the thousands of ways that motherhood has changed me. Of course there’s the love, the hours spent cooing at and encouraging the smiles of another. But it is the other more subtle things that astonish me.

All at once, priorities clarify. I am no longer willing to use my precious time with “filler” items. Anything mediocre simply gets cut.

As I constantly evaluate what makes the grade, I see that writing about being a mom, sharing these experiences with other moms and hearing theirs, celebrating the trials and triumphs, informing and inspiring ourselves, creating something that is worthy of all of our precious time, that is a job worth doing. Because in the end, we need each other. The protection of my son that day was facilitated by the woman who owned the dog. She literally leaped across the room to grab her dog before it reached my arm. In the journey of motherhood, like so many others, I’ve found, we are good alone, but better together, and I would love to share the journey with all of you.

Aimée