Still processing graduation

So this is me in the waiting room before we officially graduate along with hundreds of our "closest friends". I'm in a group of about 40 from our program, and many are crying. Me? I'm giddy with relief and accomplishment! But, as you can see, I'm also in a big "Now what?" space.

The very first time I graduated (from high school), I looked like this.

Wow! Was THAT girl clueless! Oh the many wrong turns and rescues that lie ahead of this girl! I didn't go in the direction I planned when this picture was taken.

                                                                   Not. At. All.

I would've been a physical therapist by now if I had stayed on the (2nd) path I had chosen. My first path was to get a degree in Anthropology, but my father told me that unless I was Margaret Mead, I could never make a a living with that degree. He was wrong, of course, there are many anthro graduates doing many things besides being famous, but I DO like the fact that he assumed I'd make a living and not just get married and stay home. (although I did stay home for 12 years with my kids. A luxury these days)

The next time I graduated was 5 confused years later. I sort of backed into nursing. To earn a living, doncha know.
And then....25 years after that (! ! !) I got my BA in....ANTHROPOLOGY!

Did I go "live topless with the natives", as my father described life as an anthropologist?
Nope. I just kept on raising kids and then working as a nurse again.

And by the way, Margaret kept her clothes on even when the natives didn't wear much.

Now, the closest I come to cultural anthropology work is working with patients of many nationalities, ethnicities and religions. I always find a way to connect with most of them, but the hospitals don't care about my BA, they want me to have a BSN. Focus on the BS, if you ask me.

So now, I'm the proud holder of a masters degree in Holistic Health Studies. I call it my degree in Hippie, since most of the course work covered the ideas I had lived and experimented with in my commune life.

Oh

Did I mention my time as a hippie? No pictures exist of that period. Thankfully.

Although that part of me shows up a LOT in my art.

So now what? 

I paint

I do SoulCollage®

I'm still a nurse. 

But I have credentials! 

RN

BA Anthropology

MA

Holistic Health

With all those buzzwords, maybe I can reshape my way of earning a living. 

Or maybe I can have time to do more art for myself and for the world. 

I am of two minds about that......