About Irma Velasquez
Irma’s Life
I grew up surrounded by abundance and faced the reality of poverty. I was born in El Salvador, where children jumped on the hood of our car in the middle of the city block, trying to earn a few pennies in exchange for a clean windshield. A country where mango and banana trees rich with fruit lined the country roads leading to the open Pacific Ocean. My life has been abundant; being born into a loving family, a safe place to grow up, and time to reflect on who I am.
I experienced a shock point when my parents suddenly transplanted our family to the San Francisco Bay Area. I was thwarted into a foreign culture, a new language, and where material abundance overshadowed thoughts of scarcity. I spent many years alone, not knowing how to make friends and feeling uncomfortable expressing myself in a new language. Art became my lifelong companion.
The second shock point came when I became a mother. My view of motherhood was not what I expected, especially when I faced the diagnosis of autism. Over the years, I’ve embraced the gift of living with a son and husband who experience the world differently.
When I reached mid-life, I was shocked into another reality: I was not the person I thought myself to be. But, as I learned about the Enneagram and my personality structure and began to know myself in a different way, I realized that I had choices that were not available to me before. This knowledge led me to embrace all of who I am: the good and the ugly. This awareness has guided me through a lifelong practice of inner exploration, inquiry, and curiosity about the person I am meant to be.
My son, art, and a quest for who I truly am have been my life’s three pillars. These relationships have opened up my worldview and a more expansive way of being.
I’ve chosen to donate the proceeds of this book to the organizations that have fostered the values and enriched my life over the years.
Irma’s Art
Inbound
555 Untitled
455 Untitled
565 Untitled
65 Untitled
25 Untitled
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Series 24
Dreaming 33
Self Portrait
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Untitled 1015
Untitled 221
Untitled 1014
Irma’s Pillars
My son, art, and a quest for who I truly am have been my life’s three pillars. These relationships have opened up my worldview and a more expansive way of being.
I share them here with the hope that anyone seeking resources may find support from these organizations.
Deep Living Lab promotes an approach that allows us to access our inner guidance and open ourselves beyond our personality. The Deep Living approach uses the Enneagram as a guide towards discovering your deep wisdom and finding a more expanded sense of self.
De Colores Arts was formed to continue to support and enrich the creative energy that is a natural part of being human. De Colores provides opportunities for adults of all abilities to socialize and communicate with others in safe and creative spaces.
Wings Learning Center is a school that was born to fill the educational need of children with autism. Educators who built the school’s foundation in 2001 believed that the children were the source of wisdom and that each student had much to teach us.
