31 Days of Brave Hearts | Day 11, Jill Robertson

Who does she secretly want to be?  The Good Half would be Jill Robertson, secret billionaire, philanthropist and explorer.  The Dark Half would be Jill Robertson, vampire that slays (only the really really bad guys) who is also a billionaire philanthropist making change and protecting the world.  Meet Jill.

Describe your brave heart outfit. Earth tones of some sort of flowing material, with large jewelry and calf boots – think Stevie Nicks with red hair.

What book has shaped you? I guess, the book(s) that have shaped me the most is “The Chronicles Of Narnia.” it reminds us that trees dance, there is magic everywhere and with the right guidance selfish boys can grow up to be noble men.

What is your favorite movie? “Dead Poet Society” – Oh Captain My Captain!! Probably doesn’t need any explanation but it was the most influential movie of my youth. As a kid I would climb to the top of one of the Mountains of Eastern Kentucky and shout my barbaric “YAWP” a cackling GOD laying claim to the world, vowing that I would seize the day, question authority, and be a thorn in the side of normalcy. So… you can imagine that most of my teens involved acts of shock value but hopefully I have grown out of that phase.

What was the best trip ever? Months after my father died, I still found myself in spiraling depression. I had gone to Florida to help a friend move, it was about 4:30am and I ended up at a bay in St. Augustine, searching for the sunrise. The moment was picturesque, orange light, sailboats in the distance, dolphins jumping at my feet but I was unimpressed and nothing had substance for me. It had become clear that I had become disenchanted with the world and because of that grew ashamed of my oxygen consumption.

I’m not exactly sure of what series of choices led to it but somehow I ended up on the other side of Florida, watching a glorious sunset while a manatee, slowing rolled up out of the water, just feet away from me. I sat on the pier till the moon came up and a purple storm filled with lightening, started moving in from far away, all of which cannot be adequately described by me. My mind could process what I should have been feeling: should have been grateful for the blessing in my day, there should have been hope and reverence but I turned by back disheartened and decided to head back to the car. While walking along the shore I ran my feet through the waves and to my shock the water lit up as if there were thousands of little fireflies, I thought I was hallucinating, but welcomed my crazy, jumped in the ocean fully clothed and started laughing like some wild thing, head butting the waving as they rolled in and screaming at the approaching storm (if your are visualizing the Lieutenant Dan scene about now – you hit the nail on the head). The more I thrashed around in the water, the more the waters glowed, I too glowed, my skirt looked as if it had its own constellation of stars, I giggled and hopped. With each wave, I got a little better. That trip involved a great deal of magic maybe a sprinkle of divine intervention, I refer to that day as “Poseidon’s Gift to the Dead”. BTW – the glowing water was bioluminescent organisms.

What’s the best advice you were given about your work? It’s ok to not know the answer… It will always and enviably be ok… walk away when it’s time but only after you have created three or four to replace you.

What’s in your office? Coffee maker, coffee, computer, phone, secret stash of peanut butter, singing bowl, photos, and a leather box from Meritt.

What is your favorite word? Moot.

What are the tools of your trade? Hope and a magic eight ball.

What are you scared of? Being ordinary and falling in such a way as to break my legs and the bones stick out.

What did you study? Human nature.

What gives you courage? Fear (My fight or flight always come out swinging).

What do you love most about yourself? Physically: Hair and eye.  Other: My ability to scout out and befriend the best quality people, my friends are some of the most remarkable humans on the planet.

What do you want the world to know about your work? It’s all about having faith in the human condition.

Meet other Brave Hearts like Jill at 31 Days of Brave Hearts.