Anna Slabicki
There are many things I have yet to understand in this life, but I don’t mind, because seeking answers ignites my favorite quality: curiosity.
The question that I focus on asks, “am I going to live for example, ninety nine years, or one year ninety nine times?” I say, let me live ninety nine beautifully diverse years full of experiences, expanding my consciousness, and mastering myself. My favorite moments in life are full of passion, creativity, and love, just as I am, and my interests range from philosophy, human behavior, travel, literature, art, and film, to tennis and meditation. I am a romantic and explorer, and I am grateful every day to live in beautiful, culturally diverse Miami with my husband and daughter.
I grew up in Warsaw, Poland and moved to the US in my early twenties. I have a Linguistics degree from Harvard University, and in 2015 I became a certified trainer under Jennifer Grace for Creative Insight Journey Clarity Catalyst, an 8-week course based on the methodology taught in Creativity in Business, an MBA course at Stanford University. In addition to Jennifer Grace, I learn from teachers such as Tony Robbins, Rob Bell, Eckhart Tolle, Oprah, Brené Brown, and Deepak Chopra, among many others!
I offer Creative Insight Journey Clarity Catalyst coaching to anyone who would like to break through their limitations, make the right choice at a crossroads, or simply wake up their inner potential. Join me on a journey of curiosity and discover the fulfillment of living a rich and varied life of ninety nine distinctive years.
I live in a big city, and it seems to me that in the 21 century one has to bear this kind of a daily city hum. Please don’t mind the background noise. Life is full of surprises. Life is Now.
SOME DETAILS ABOUT MY LIFE…
1956 – Barbara Michałowska and Krzysztof Dudek meet in Wałcz, Poland playing volleyball. They fall in love and get married one year later.
1958 – On December, 29 in Warsaw, Poland, Barbara gives birth to a baby girl: me! Six months later, I am already taking my first trips, traveling by train to Zakopane (the Polish Aspen), and visiting my dad at his volleyball camp in Wałcz, where my parents met (I have a photo being carried in a sport bag instead of a stroller). This is only the beginning of exploring Poland and Europe with my parents and later with my brother. I inherited my love of travel and volleyball from them!
1965 – I meet my best childhood friend, Jola. We are inseparable and share ambitions of becoming tennis players but…due to lack of tennis equipment and courts, we practice badminton everyday instead.
1970 – Somehow, Jola convinces me to go to a volleyball tryout, and the rest is history. I am a volleyball player on my school team, then continue to move up to a junior team, National League team, my college team, the Warsaw team, and finally the national team.
1972 – I start High School, my innocence fades, and my rebel era is born. I meet my volleyball buddy and a friend for life, Beata. We spend countless volleyball camps in Wałcz.
1976 – My first trip to the UK. I spend one summer in London practicing my English and hustling as an underpaid illegal worker at bed and breakfasts. I am underage, so I have to be accompanied by a guardian to leave the country. My mom and I take the Polish transatlantic ship and disembark in London. My mom stays with me for two weeks and returns to Poland. I am a 16-year old alone in London! Freedom and fun!
1977 – I get accepted into the School of Economics in Warsaw. I meet my best friends Barbara and Jerzy. We party, dream big, and study just a little. I am a serious volleyball player—constantly on the road in Poland and the world.
1981 – Another summer trip to the UK. Poland experiences political turmoil. I am offered a contract to play volleyball in Austria, but choose to go to the US to visit my boyfriend who now lives in Boston, MA.
1981 – A month into my visit in the US, Marshal Law is imposed in Poland. My parents tell me to extend my stay in Boston, which eventually becomes permanent.
1982 – After my initial shock, I go back to school, become an IT professional, get my first job, meet my first manager, Ross (I am still friends with him), marry my boyfriend, and become a reluctant Bostonian. It will take me many years to understand the reason for my immigration. I still play competitive volleyball and pick up tennis. I am grateful to my first husband for introducing me to this fun sport. I will be playing it forever.
1989 – Thanks to the Solidarity movement’s accomplishments, Poland opens its borders, and I go back to visit my family in Warsaw. I miss Europe and Poland very much.
1993 – Two more jobs and one husband later, my miraculous (I had some health issues) daughter Veronica is born.
1997 – I quit my professional career, become a stay not so much home mom. We travel the world with my husband, Zbyszek, our daughter, Veronica, and my step daughter Alexandra. We live in a beautiful house outside Boston and have fun entertaining our friends and family.
1999 – My father passes away in a beautiful (for an athlete), but untimely death during a game of tennis with his best friend.
2008 – I graduate from Harvard University with the degree in my beloved Linguistics. I should have studied it all along instead of Economics, but my life would have turned out very different had I not. I start my career as an English as a Second Language instructor/coach. Our daughter, Veronica leaves home for New York University.
2011 – After an illness, and the loss of his business, my husband decides to leave Boston and move to Miami. I follow him, still acting on an automatic pilot, but something wakes up in me.
2013/14 – I discover and take the transformational course Creative Insight Journey (CIJ), based on a master class at Stanford University, which changes my life. In the fifth week of this program I have an epiphany to bring it to Poland. I begin the process without knowing how it is going to unfold.
2015-2019 – I become a licensed CIJ Clarity Catalyst (new name) trainer. Through an array of many serendipitous events I meet my business partner, Beata. We translate the course into Polish and organize our first live workshop in Warsaw with our trainer, Jennifer Grace. We are received with great enthusiasm. People sign up and…we begin to teach the course on-line and in person in English and Polish globally. I run workshops in Miami and Boston. I change lives. I continue to grow personally and professionally. I meet new teachers and new friends. I attend conferences, programs, and classes. I travel. I play tennis. Veronica lives in Miami, as well. I understand why I get to live in the US. Life is good. Life is NOW.
