Vanessa Morrison
As a Social Impact Planner, Vanessa wakes up every day and strives to support & honor her community.
One year from today, how do you hope you’re different?
I don’t really have a goal to be different. My hope is that I just continue to remain open to all of life’s possibilities and the changes that will inevitably come. I believe that everything that’s happening in our lives is teaching us something and preparing us for the next “thing.” All we have to do is stay present, softly alert, be adaptive and stay flexible. So I hope that I will continue to keep my formerly rigid self retired and allow life to do it’s thing. Wherever that puts me in a year I hope that I’m living it up and having fun while at it.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
To trust that everything in life is working out in my favor and for my greater good. Adopting that mindset has helped me navigate through so many situations and has made me a happier person!
“To trust that everything in life is working out in my favor and for my greater good.”
What’s been the biggest obstacle in your life so far?
In some ways, I have to say my own thoughts. Growing up as a minority in a predominantly-white everything, and also going through adversity on top of that, I allowed other people’s thoughts, opinions and actions to shape and define who I was for so long. With aging, wisdom and through the generous teachings of loved ones, I’ve learned over time that what matters the most is what I believe and think about myself and that I have the power to create “me.” Not allowing people to put me in a box or constraining myself, or my life’s my work, to the limitations of other people’s thinking or judgements has also been critical—especially in the work I do and so much of that being uncharted and, even in 2021, still a taboo to even talk about in some cases. Once my thinking began to shift, so did I and so did my abilities.
vanessa is one of 100 women we have featured in the inaugural issue of Hundred Magazine. To learn more about her and the other 99 women, buy the issue.
