Over the years I have worked as a teacher, journalist, filmmaker and mom in Africa, England and the United States. Now I describe myself as the founder and president of the Creative Visions Foundation, a lively global organization that supports “creative activists” who use imagination and thought to change the world around them for the better.

Why do I do what I do? Because I passionately believe in our ability to create and manifest the highest vision of ourselves and our world and have committed my life to encouraging individuals to use the creative spark within them to achieve their potential — both for themselves and others.

I didn’t always know about the power of a creative vision, however! As a young woman growing up in Iowa, I had big dreams, but wasn’t sure how I could ever achieve them. It was even harder to imagine an exciting future when I was the mother of two little kids living in a suburb of London, feeling like a bird whose wings had been clipped. Fortunately, a move to Nairobi, Kenya, changed everything; for as a fledgling journalist I was able to tell the stories of many courageous individuals who had transformed their dreams into reality.

My son Dan followed in my footsteps and became a photojournalist for Reuters News Agency. His first job was shooting photographs of a terrible famine that was raging across Somalia. Inspired by the global response to his images, and the aid that poured into Somalia as a result, Dan returned again and again to tell more stories that he hoped could positively affect the future of the country. Tragically, however, his life was cut short when he was murdered by a mob while covering the aftereffects of a mortar attack on civilians in Mogadishu. Dan was 22 years old.

Over the next twelve months I will tell the story about how, after my son’s death, I transformed myself — and the world around me — slowly, gradually, emerging from the darkness surrounding me to emerge into a light-filled, miraculous existence filled with peace, joy and nonstop excitement.

It’s a story filled with twists and turns, dead ends and new beginnings, humor and sadness, but ultimately it’s a tale that I hope will inspire readers to believe that nothing is impossible when you decide to create and manifest your highest vision for yourself — and our world.