The Value of Living Like An Explorer: Passion, Wisdom, and a Fulfilling Life

In the past 25 years, I’ve lived in 17 different homes, had nine different careers, raised five children, and had two husbands. The way that I approach life is not by accident, and perhaps I look at things differently than others do. I decided early on to choose jobs because in the moment, (and that’s the key component - in the moment) I loved what they held. I would soak up what I could learn from them, and then, when another moment took my interest elsewhere, I chose to move on. Some moments lasted longer than others. But, essentially, I’ve moved quite a lot: I did public relations with my own firm, I was the director of sales for Vibe Magazine, I worked for Zac Posen as his director of PR, I was a circus acrobat, a book editor, I worked in music management, I co-owned a beauty store, and a live performance venue (actually, I still do). Wow, that’s a lot. But, then again, I have a lot of interests.

I can recall a time when I really loved bathroom time with my daughter. We’d spend hours doing hair and pampering skin and it felt special - so special that I went into the beauty industry. I eventually created a beauty line, opened a salon and a boutique all focused on textured hair, just like my daughter’s. I even spontaneously decided to be an exotic dancer for a month soon after college, (before I had children), simply because I was curious about it - about how the body can be performative at times and instrumental at others. In some ways, it was one of the most satisfying jobs I ever had because the money I made was tied to my own efforts. If I wanted more money, I could dance a few more hours or a few more days. In that way, it was very different from editing books (which was my first job out of college). As a junior book editor, I could work more or fewer hours and still make the same salary. The money was fixed and I had no control over it. But in another way, a deeper way, I saw an exhausting side to that type of dancing. I witnessed a lot of addiction, sexism, and self-hatred. After one month (which was all I wanted to do) I had made enough money to join my grandmother on a cross-country road trip in her beautiful, yellow Cadillac. I learned a lot from that month of dancing mostly about how no one body can be compared to another body. Each is unique and powerful in its own way. I also learned that I can not be satisfied by one, straightforward path. I prefer a journey that twists and turns.

I believe it is a good thing to see your own self as interesting. Don’t just gaze at other things like books and movies and celebrities and think they’re interesting. You are interesting! And your interests can take you all over the world. We should explore jobs, careers, passions, places to live with inquisitive energy. I harnessed that curiosity, and I applied it to my career, to my love life, to my home life, and to my friendships. I'm an explorer, of people and ideas, places and spaces. An explorer moves in and out of areas gathers information and then takes chances over and over again, all in search of information. I think when you live like an explorer, it makes you interesting. It makes your opinions more robust.

That’s what I’ve done, I've collected a lot of information from all of my explorations, and now at 51, I'm a writer - writing from all the places that I've traveled. So while I call myself an author, I'm simply, a creative, connecting the dots, one experience to the next, and seeing the wisdom in those moments. Today I use that wisdom, on zoom calls with the brands I partner with, in think tanks, and in boardrooms. 2 years ago, I became the chair of the Human Rights Council Campaign Foundation Board, which is the largest LGBT organization in the Nation. I bring to that job the knowledge of being a mother, a circus acrobat, beauty and nightlife entrepreneur, a fashion publicist, a retail shop owner, and a Black daughter. All of that comes with me into the boardroom, because that is important to folks trying to understand diverse groups of people, shift culture, raise awareness, and, oftentimes, money.

Jodie Patterson with Memoir The Bold World

Here’s the funny thing…often we’re not comfortable attaching value to our passions. We think by putting a dollar value to it, somehow detracts from the integrity of the passion. But I think our passions are the most valuable. Passion projects, as people call them, have so much data folded into them. And data is currency. I've never considered myself a capitalist, but perhaps I’m a capitalist who cares! I'm someone who recognizes the value of joyful experiences and believes they can translate not only to a good life but also to a good career. Basically what I’m trying to say is, if you are an explorer, if you take the time to collect information about little things, interesting things, you can make a career from that. You can make a business from the value and the currency that you carry. You can make a business from your wisdom.

And there's so much wisdom that women, particularly Black women and Black mothers have, it’s data that nobody else can really claim. We've been calling it Black girl magic, but that term drives me crazy because it's not magic. It's an actual strategy. Magic implies that there’s an illusion taking place. But there's an actual strategy behind how Michelle Obama, Elaine Welteroth, Bozoma Saint John, Nikole Hannah-Jones and so many others became who they are. There is a history of that type of success. And it starts with Black mothers and aunties and a community that builds up a child into a force of nature.

Jodie & Elaine Welteroth

It goes back to wisdom. It’s passed on verbally, and also by demonstration, by women mostly. It’s the same strategy that built our HBCUs, our Black churches, and our Black Wall Streets. The Black community has been building itself up for generations - out of the darkness when no one was helping us or betting on us or even watching us. This is what I've been trying to convey to my kids (and to myself)... You, little rockstar, can be your own source of energy. Experience things, try things out, collect data, try more things, think about what you’ve witnessed, synthesize that data, and then bring that knowledge everywhere you go.