Hi! Welcome to Q’s Qorner! My name is Monique Hassell. I’m an aspiring blog writer and this is the first time I’ve ever put my voice (my real voice) out in the public domain! I live in beautiful Barbados with my 21-year old son, a dog named Josie and a cat named Pebbles and no they do not get on! Who am I? Take your pick. Mother, sister, friend, avid sun and sea worshipper and lover of travel, music, theatre, a good book, Netflix series, margaritas, chocolate and ice-cream (sometimes the last 4 all at once!).
After spending my substantive career in the corporate world I decided to make an about turn at a time many would consider late in my career (read ‘old’ in-between the lines). If I’m honest I’d been feeling the pull to step away from the business world for about 4 years but I hadn’t quite put my finger on exactly what I wanted to do or how I was going to go about doing it.
Then 2 years ago as I was approaching the age of 50 that pull became a yank, a metaphorical shake of the shoulders so to speak that said “Snap out of it! You’re running out of time! If you’re going to make your mark on the world, now’s the time to do it!”.
Make no mistake I’m one of the fortunate ones who fell into their career and actually loved it (still do) but it just wasn’t as fulfilling as before. Fast forward and here I am a psychologist-in-training at age fifty-something and loving it. It allows me to combine my desire to help others fulfill their full potential, with my passion and growing understanding of the human condition.
So why a blog? Well I’ve recently discovered that I like writing (I really don’t know how long that will last) and that there are people out there who may even benefit from some of the stuff I write about. So I’ve decided to take the plunge. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that. But here’s the real deal, every day I’m asking my clients to step outside their comfort zone so I’m hoping if I share my big hairy, scary thing it will encourage them and others to close their eyes and jump.
So, join me readers I promise I won’t fill my articles with lots of big, heavy psychologyish (yes I just made that up!) words, just real talk, let’s learn, laugh and cry together, because sometimes life is already too big and too heavy.
My musings are a mixture of the lessons life has taught me with a healthy sprinkle of what I’m just figuring out on my own journey of self-discovery. I’d love to hear from my readers. But let’s keep it real and have real conversations about real stuff in a very real way. I want it to feel like we’re having a chat over coffee……scrap that, who am I kidding…a vanilla-flavored latte, with chocolate syrup and sprinkles…yum…I digress. So if you have a question, want to share your own advice or are interested in a particular topic then join me in the Qorner and let’s learn, laugh and grow together.