TUTUM A Dwelling Place for Childless Women For Every Season
fall 2021 • issue 3 • purpose
Journal
5 Ways To Embrace Your
Life Purpose Discovering Your
SIMONE
EDWARDS Exclusive The beloved WNBA Champion on battling cancer & finding new purpose
Divine Superpowers Know The Signs Of
Ovarian Cancer The Impact Of
World Childless Week tutumjournal.com www.tutumjournal.com 1
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5 Ways To Embrace Your Life Purpose
Cover Photo: STEVE STROTHER
CONTENTS
Transformational coach Jan Bowen shares the steps towards living a life of purpose.
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There Is A Blessing In The Lesson
Blogger Fatima Lathan explains her great awakening from the pits of grief to peace.
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Living Your Purpose
Life purpose/transition coach Naomi Geidel describes the soul-searching work of discovering purpose.
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The Difference Between Passion And Purpose
Cover Story
Transformational coach Jan Bowen discusses passion, purpose, and the path between.
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The Journey To Discovering Your Divine Superpowers Four childless leaders talk about their higher calling, superpowers, and explore inspiring insights into their exciting journeys.
WNBA Champion Simone Edwards talks basketball, cancer, and recovery. By Jobi Tyson
in every issue Page 4
CONTRIBUTORS Page 5
Page 18
My Purposeful Life With Social Infertility Psychologist Adriana Castro shares her silent anguish of social infertility.
EDITOR’S LETTER Page 5
THE TUTUM SURVEY
Page 20
Readers reveal what they think about key subjects relevant to the childless community.
The Childless Wanderer
Page 22
Traveler and blogger Penny Rabarts brings us along to her curious world adventures.
Page 38
The Blossom Of The Journey Celebrity fashion designer Raxann Chin discusses finding the confidence to turn her wounds into success.
GAME CHANGER Spotlighting the achievements and journeys of childless/childfree women.
Page 30
MEDICAL AWAKENING Examines medical conditions and relevant information of interest to childless/childfree women.
Page 40
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The Life Purpose Quiz
NAVIGATING AGING
Twenty life-affirming questions to discover how far you need to dig to reclaim your purpose.
Exploring topics, gaining new perspectives, advice, and relevant information associated with women aging without children.
Page 42
Discover Your Life Purpose Worksheet A blueprint to gain a clearer understanding of your life purpose.
Page 36
BUILDING BRIDGES
An interview column to create dialogue between childless/childfree women and industry experts.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3, Tutum Journal™ (ISSN 2766-9580) is published quarterly by Tutum Global. For more information about Tutum Journal, please visit us at www.tutumjournal.com, or email us at info@tutumjournal.com. www.tutumjournal.com
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FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jobi Tyson
EDITORIAL Charlie Bishop Anita Henderson Brandi Lytle
CONTRIBUTORS Jan Bowen Adriana Castro Raxann Chin Andrea Clement Naomi Geidel Fatima Lathan Penny Rabarts National Ovarian Cancer Coalition
© 2021 Tutum Global. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in part, or in whole, without prior written permission, excepting brief quotations in connection with reviews written specifically for inclusion in magazines, newspapers, blogs, or limited excerpts strictly for personal use. Designed in the U.S.A.
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EDITOR'S LETTER + FEEDBACK A Well-Lived Life of Purpose
What is your purpose in life? Why do you exist? What are you trying to achieve in life? What are your goals? What is your vision? I ask these questions frequently to childless women throughout the world and many of them are uncertain about their answers. Some are wandering through life hoping to find purpose, but wandering just the same. Why do people wander? They let busyness take over their lives. They tend to confuse hard work with purpose. I have learned that there are an infinite number of possibilities for living a well-lived life of purpose. One of the biggest components of a well-lived life — other than a profound appreciation of life — is doing something that feels meaningful. For me, that usually means helping others with something that is meaningful to them.
Photo: JUSTIN BOWENS
Here’s an important statement for you to complete. I __________________________, exist for the purpose of serving others by _______________ _____________________________________________________________________________________. If you can serve others, make their lives better in some small way (or a big way)… it feels incredibly meaningful. If you can hit on something like that, that feels meaningful… then a well-lived life becomes simple. It’s simple, but not always easy; and that makes it even richer. When answering your heart’s calling, whatever it is, start before you feel ready. There will be signs, synchronicities, teachers, or messages in dreams, to guide you, to help you follow the way, like breadcrumbs into an unknown forest. Each moment of every day, when you choose to embody your true Divine Light, you are living your life purpose. The truth is living a purpose-filled life is about living a life filled with hope and significance. There is a proverb that basically says, “Without vision the people perish.” How about if we make this a transformational season of purpose rather than a season of wandering? You don’t have a life purpose; you are your life purpose.
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TUTUM SURVEY
WHAT YOU TOLD US To carefully curate each issue’s theme to support and strengthen the mental well-being of involuntarily childless women, we took Instagram polls using question-wording: Do you firmly believe that everyone has a purpose with or without children?
92% Yes
8% No
I feel like I make a difference in the world.
71% Yes
29% No www.tutumjournal.com
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WAYS TO EMBRACE
YOUR LIFE
PURPOSE
BY JAN BOWEN
Take action now. Do you spend time thinking about how much effort you put into your day or life, and stressing about the potential impact your effort did or didn’t have? Do the topics of life purpose and passion simultaneously inspire and terrify you? Stop stressing! The irony of life purpose is that everyone is living a life of purpose. By the nature of putting an effort into taking action to step out of bed in the morning, you’ve already made a difference. The distinction of the grand words “living your purpose” and just living life is about the deliberation and intention of your actions.
This is where you ask yourself — are the actions you’re taking leading you toward the life you want to live? You create your life automatically through your behaviors. When you operate on autopilot, you subconsciously and unconsciously design your life. The key to empowering yourself and feeling like you’re making a difference comes when you can clearly communicate what you stand for and what you live for — and then put some muscle into taking the necessary actions to manifest that. Pay attention to your current actions and look for clues that they are intentional and on target. If not, it’s time to focus on clearly articulating your goals. Once you do, the newfound command you’ll have over your days will empower and lead to more confidence and energy!
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Here are five ways to clue in and power up your intentional actions:
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Think of your purpose as a way of being rather than doing. For example, if “teaching” is your purpose in life, there are countless ways to teach. However, if you narrow your definition and consider yourself “a teacher” you’ve automatically limited your possibilities. Evaluating yourself on who you are — your core values, effort, and beliefs — automatically elevates your self-esteem and frees you to live life as it evolves. By not being rigidly attached to one outcome, you guarantee success because you measure it by values and principles.
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Watch yourself and what you do with your time. Pay attention to what you instinctively like to do, are curious about, and what feels effortless to you. What do you lose time doing, or do for others regardless of whether or not you are paid? Being in the “zone” or state of flow is an expanded state of consciousness that we reach when our body, mind and unconscious is interconnected. Those are clues to what you are meant to do in life.
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Listen to what everyone else is saying. Others can be a wonderful mirror showing you what you forgot you are good at. It can be easy to forget because it comes so naturally to you. Ask around — what do your friends, family, and colleagues think you can do effortlessly? Yep, another clue.
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Think about the activities and interests you had when you were young. Consider where your interests and activities are represented in your life today. For example, did you come home from school and set up another “classroom” in your home, only to find today that you are coaching others? Look for patterns, no matter how tenuous they may seem.
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Feel it in your gut. Always pay attention to how an activity makes you feel. Your body is a built-in guidance system to truth. If you think something sounds like the best idea ever, but your stomach and head scream, “NO!” You’d better listen.
Connect the dots. Life isn’t a literal road map. It’s filled with metaphors. Look at the clues you’ve accumulated and connect the dots. Pay attention to what makes sense for you.
Remember, you’re already living your purpose by contributing in your own unique way. To other people, you are probably fabulously successful at whatever you’re doing. Nevertheless, if you aren’t blissed out in at least a quiet internal way, then you haven’t put words to your purpose. Do that, and power up!
Jan Bowen (@jlbowen13) is an author, speaker, catalyst, and transformational coach, based in the US. www.janlbowen.com
www.tutumjournal.com
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