From Many Lives to One Calling: The Story Behind Where I Am

If you’ve known me since high school, you probably remember me as an artist—the one who sculpted a giant eye of yarn, painted my best friends out of cigarette butts and faux flowers, and made a 4x4 ft. portrait of Mr. Kern's face out of Q-tips (he taught philosophy and U.S. government at York Community High School). Back then, art was my language, my way of sharing what I felt inside without needing to speak. I'd hide away in the art department during lunch and pretend I didn't belong where I was planted. I'd imagine what life was like elsewhere, dreaming of the vast and unexplored world, learning about various mythologies, politics, and social systems through my inquiry on the beautiful things I had taken a deep interest in. I would research ancient art forms, mimicking the work I found through the internet and my strolls through the Art Museum of Chicago through clay, metalwork, and paper, pen, and paint.

During this time, and even way before, I would always be pondering this: Why do we believe what we believe? Why do we see what we see? Feel what we feel? Come to know what we know? What lays beyond where I stand that's alive and experiencing like me, and what might even be right in front of me that's feeling the same things, too? What if the world is more alive than we think? Is there a way to be “there for” more than just ourselves and humanity?

Thanking my peers for voting me best in show, 2010

My artworks on display at York during an art show, 2010

Learning Ayurveda in Kerala, India, 2012

Posing in front of a mural I painted in Elmhurst, IL, 2013

Setting up for a coffee tasting event at Starbucks 2015

Volunteering with my team in Winterhaven, FL, 2016

Thanking the audience, models, and team in Lakeland, FL after a fashion show, 2017

Posing with my team and clients, Les Vixens, after a photoshoot, 2019

Posing for my brand, Manic Theory, 2022

Those questions never left. They just evolved and grew as I did. As I like to say, I simply have been experiencing many different lifetimes in this lifetime, following my heart and leading with curiosity.

After high school, my wonderment led me to a new continent and disciplines. I studied Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda in Chicago and India, learning how ancient wisdom can heal and connect us. I then pivoted and studied Digital Audiences at Arizona State University online while working at Starbucks, freelancing, and launching a local digital Look Book where I hosted runway shows and community events, creating spaces for self-expression and connection. Then I left it all to build a career in marketing and web design, helping others share their stories and visions through this beautiful world-wide-web. Each chapter—whether in healing, fashion, tech, or art—taught me that presence and connection matter more than any single label or achievement.

But the thread running through it all was always philosophy. When I finally returned to study it formally, I found myself having a blast developing arguments and sharing my truest passion. I was wrestling with Descartes’ classic “I think, therefore I am” when I noticed that being, to me, isn’t just about thinking—it’s about feeling, relating, and being there for ourselves, each other, and the world. That’s where my handle, @samthereforiam, comes from: not “therefore,” but “there for.” Because presence, compassion, and connection are at the heart of everything I do.

My journey hasn’t been a straight line, in the most literal sense, too. I’ve navigated sexaul assault trauma, mental health challenges, moments of feeling like an outsider, and the ups and downs of forging my own path. But I’ve also found deep meaning in those twists and turns—discovering that our struggles can be sources of learning, growing, wisdom, empathy, and creative inspiration. My family’s whispers of memories and stories of our Native American lineage, whispers of Romani connections, and religious divisions finding connections, had always influenced me. Every story taught me to see myself as a communicator, storyteller, a bridge, connector, and healer. That sense of being “there for” others—plants, animals, people, even the so-called unalive—has always been my compass. Reminding me that the things we sense aren't woo-woo or wacky or reason to lock up us. They're reminders for us to slow down, be here, and feel.

For the past few months I've been rather cryptic. Hinting that I've been working at something but not really saying exactly what that is. And what it is all of me, all of my experiences, loves, and lessons I've learnt are coming to a singular destination and platform: www.therefori.am. I Am is a website, yes, but it's also so much more —it’s a community and a conversation. A safe space for people to come and open their minds to one another, share their lived experience, expand there senses, and empower our collective future.

Here’s what you can expect:

• The Sense Method course: An 11-lecture journey into philosophical and psychosocial sense-making, designed to help us rediscover our own wisdom, creativity, and connection to our shared world.

• Live workshops and recorded events for an open-source podcast: Honest, jargon-free lessons and open air conversations where we can exchange our answer around the questions we face when asking what it means to be alive today in the here and now. Live events include psychedelic support and safe-safe debate circles.

• One-on-one advocacy sessions: Personalized support for those ready to explore their own sense-making, from introspection to "outrospection" and back again.

Why “there for" I Am? Because I believe being is not just a fact to prove, but a practice to live. “There for” means showing up—for yourself, for others, for our world, even when it’s messy or confusing. It means honoring all the ways we exist—thinking, feeling, creating, healing, and sometimes just surviving. It means remembering that we’re all in this together, here together, and that your story, your presence, and your experience are of value.

So, whether you’ve known me as the artist, the healer, the fashion nut, the digital storyteller, or just that person who asks too many questions or talks way too much—I’m glad you’re here. Because I'm writing this blog not just to update you, explain where I've been and detail where I'm going, but to let you know that I need help. This new project has been somewhat of a one-woman show. I feel very much guided and supported by so many people and other forces beyond just myself, but what I'm creating is meant to be something that connects us, as humans. And it means the world of me to hear from others, to get advice and feedback from people even if they don't have 'the background' for it or the 'accolades'. I value peoples impressions, their visions, and minds. And if you're someone who is interested in all with what I'm doing and is curious to contribute or lend an ear, hand, or just a warm heart, I want to formally invite you to reach out. You can DM me at @samthereforiam or email me at sam@therefori.am to get in touch. Simply let me know that you read this and what you're thinking! I look forward to connecting with you and seeing what our perspectives create when they collide!

And to everyone reading, I hope you have an awesome day and I look forward to updating you all as I progress and launch this project in our world. Thank you for being you, and allowing me the space to always be myself.

With all of me,

Samantha Robyn Norrah