555. Freeing Your Imagination in Creative Play

Trudi Pavlovsky

Trudi’s teacher told her, “You’re just like the rest of your family–useless–never going to amount to anything.” Today, Trudi says, “Sometimes I think I’m living a fairy tale. It’s not a traditional fairy tale, but I wouldn’t change a thing! I feel lucky, but I know it isn’t luck.”

Trudi “Sparkles” Pavlovsky is a quirky, creative woman on a mission to support everyday people share their message. Her many years of training across numerous healing, creative and coaching modalities (NLP, Reiki Master, performance coaching, and others) have given her the ability to connect with people across all spectrums of business ownership. She specializes in mentoring coaches and creating courses and events.

How Did You Start Using Your Talents?

“If anyone watched me as a child, they probably thought there was something wrong with me. I wanted to be able to learn dancing as a little girl, but the financial reality of having a single mom, who was raising three kids on her own, meant there was no money for lessons. So, I lived in my imagination. I would pretend to be a ballerina in the backyard. Or I would imagine I was an Olympic horse rider and do imaginary jumps. Or, I would be a fairy in a tree. It’s true, I was a little isolated for awhile there. But today I see it was all part of developing the creativity I use now in my business, especially in the creative game space and training that I am doing.”

The Most Impactful Turning Point?

“I began volunteering in a school program. This was, in part, the opportunity to heal my wounded child, create change and make a difference. Then, at 35, I had a part-time job to fund the volunteer work I was doing, and I stepped into a teacher role. In a very nontraditional way, I became a teacher and an educator! I was teaching through games, stories and play. That’s when my life started to feel complete. All the pain, sadness and unhappiness had built me up to be the person I am now. That’s where all the creative stuff came back.”

The Most Powerful Lessons Learned?

“So many people don’t realize they have the power to choose, the power to change their mindset. I began to look back at things I enjoyed doing as a child, in a nontraditional way. Look beyond the traditional ways to make those things happen. You will see there are so many possibilities. But when we think only of necessity, of the shoulds and the have-tos, we block ourselves from seeing the coulds and the maybes, and the what-would-happen-if flow of things. You don’t have to figure it out on your own. Get somebody to help you!”