Invisible Labor is Human Mycelium

~ melaniereynolds

My dearest Nature-led friends, where has the time gone?

I am fine. I didn’t intend to have such a long break in posting. I’ve been looking for a job. As many of you know, looking for a job is a full-time job in itself. Each version of my resume is carefully crafted to match the keywords and phrases of the job posting in an attempt to get pass the algorithms sieving through the applicants for HR. Each cover letter is earnestly prepared in hopes of convincing a pair of human eyes that yes: I have the skills, I have the desire, and I have done my research about your company.

If I’m lucky, I’ll get a form letter notifying me of my rejection. It was nice that the rejection email I received on Christmas Eve was written by a sympathetic human. I admit that I still locked myself away for a five-minute pity party in the bathroom afterwards because I’d had such high hopes of getting an interview for that one. Most of the time it’s silence. It spreads for weeks while I keep applying to new opportunities so that I don’t have to think about it. I’m told networking is the golden key.

I know lots of lovely people, but ‘leveraging’ their help sounds insincere to me and I’ve never been accused of being insincere! My best asset is that I’m stubborn. My worst asset is that I’m stubborn. A double-edged sword that stubbornness! It runs in the family. I don’t like to ask for things. I prefer to be the helper not the helped. I’d make a terrible damsel in distress! I’d rather be the knight’s ass. I mean steed, but let’s be honest, they aren’t famous for their stubbornness and donkeys are more practical in some terrain. When not applying for paying employment I continue with the invisible labor of being a caretaker. A wife, mother, daughter, environmentalist, engaged community member, and all-around do-gooder.

Job Search Dilemma

One of the issues I face is that job search engines and LinkedIn organize open positions by job title. I get it. It makes sense. I, however, don’t care what my job title is. I care about doing work that matters and making the world better. This means spending more time pruning through endless possibilities. I would love to teach rats to sniff out earthquake survivors or landmine! What kind of job title would that be? It can’t be rat handler because that’s what some pest control people are called. I could be a Program Assistant, Program Coordinator, Research Assistant, Team Lead, Trainer/Presenter, Communication Specialist, Writer, or Technical Writer just make it nature and community focused! These are all “me” and so much more to varying degrees of experience.

Alternatively,

I’m strongly considering creating my own business, but it’s intimidating. I’m fearless in so many ways, but not with the idea of putting myself out there as a business. What if I run afoul of a government form or tax mistake? Freelance writing and editing gigs are a clear possibility, but my friends and family also think I would be a great at coaching and/or consulting. I’m thinking of something similar to a Home Organizer but making it nature-led. Helping people live better lives to reduce stress, save money and save the planet. I know a lot about minimalism principles, biophilic design, planting, landscape design and just this week I became a Certified Habitat Steward from the National Wildlife Federation so I can help people do that too.

The classes were fun, and a couple of friends are exasperated with me because I keep taking classes that I could be teaching! It’s so much easier to be an audience member though, right? I enjoy the enthusiasm of my fellow classmates as they learn about things for the first time. Maybe I could compliment the classes by offering personalized in-home consultations to help their dreams become closer to reality. I prefer working with adults, families, or community groups. I enjoy a high level of organizational challenges.

Photo by Sean Whang on Pexels.com

I need your feedback:

Would you pay someone a sensible fee to help you get your home and life in order in a way that aligns with your intrinsic values? Or does it only sound like a nice idea, but something you wouldn’t pay for?

I’m open to your ideas, thoughts, and suggestions. I value honesty, please don’t feel the need to worry about offending me! I’m a rugged American, remember? If you punch me in the face I just get back up and say, “Well a fine ‘Hello’ to you too, pardner!”

~A Tangent~

Ah dear, there I go mixing metaphors like some kind of crazy cocktail. Horses and donkeys; knights and cowboys. We’ve got everything here in America! My friend Takeshi once said I was the most Samurai person he’d ever met. I take that as a high compliment from an authentic Japanese person! Once a group of coworkers threatened to launch a thousand ships in my honor. I really have no idea what that was all about. It was somebody else’s tangent and it’s all Greek to me! In a nutshell, I’m America, a crazy, irrelevant chaotic genius! Ugh, somebody put me to work already! I’m spending too much time with myself!

Thank you for visiting!

I do so very much hope to get back to discussing things like my coyote neighbors and something I call ‘land lasagna’ in upcoming posts. I just need to sort some things out first. I’m lacking structure beyond my own tree.

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Mycelium: a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. It is the primary way in which trees communicate. What Suzanne Simard’s research was coined as “the Wood Wide Web.” I highly recommend her book by the way called, Finding the Mother Tree.

Photo by Felix Mittermeier on Pexels.com

17 thoughts on “Invisible Labor is Human Mycelium”

  1. Melanie, I understand your frustration at the job search through ads. I’ve heard from many people that it’s hard to figure out exactly what the job is, and that no one ever gets back to you.

    But asking for help is not insincere! Why do you think that? 90% of the jobs I got (5 office jobs and hundreds of freelance ones) came from referrals. Even my first one was an interview turned referral–the woman I interviewed with thought I wasn’t right for her, but recommended me to her husband at a different company and he hired me. Seriously, you have to get over that. In my experience, a large number of workers at any business have been recommended by someone who knows someone. If you know someone who could help you out, take advantage of it. That’s one of the values of community and forming connections.

    Something else you could do is to contact somewhere you would like to work and ask for their advice in finding a similar job. Or someone who is doing something you would like to do. I once asked a fellow freelancer how she found a particular type of work, and ended up also working for the same place doing similar things, which led to other referrals and other jobs. I’ve also known people who worked as volunteers for places they were interested in who ended up eventually finding a job at that place or through people they met there.

    In terms of your idea for a business, it might be worth a try. My brother worked for awhile as an efficiency expert, helping businesses figure out how to both cut costs and be more environmentally friendly. People do hire closet organizers and declutterers for their home, and some might want to be more sustainable about it too.

    Also, f someone thinks you might be good at something, investigate the possibilities. Why not teach?

    Good luck! (K)

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    1. HI Kerfe, I really appreciate your thoughtful comment! I’ve got to learn to be more forward(?) is that the right word? I’ve been volunteering and helping friends and family. I do a lot of things…for free. I need to stop being so free with my time. I became a stay-at-home mom 13yrs ago because it was less expensive than paying for childcare, if you could even get in due to long waitlists, regardless of quality of care! When I tried to go back to work after my child reached elementary age the school schedule was so difficult to work around! Again, Long wait lists for before and after care, if you could afford it. That’s 13yrs not paying into Social Security or retirement benefits and missing out on promotions. When I think about how much money that adds up too it makes me sick to my stomach. It’s always been important to me to be there when people need me most it seems impossible to find a balance. It reminds me of dating some 20 odd years ago; some guys break up with you because “you’re not the kind of girl you take home to mom” (too naughty) and other guys break up with you because “you’re the kind of girl you take home to mom” (too nice). Same girl, different perspectives. I did eventually become someone’s bowl of Goldilocks though! That’s something.

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      1. I just read an article about how Social Security should be provided for parents and those who do the work of childcare. So many childcare workers are also “off the books” and get no credit towards retirement either. There’s a lot of stigma to that gap in paid work as well. You might have to take a less-than-ideal job just to have something on your resume. I’m so glad I’m not looking for work now!

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      2. So true and it makes me angry. We’ve had strangely nice weather here and I keep going outside attacking weeds and overthinking everything. I just need to suck it up and spend more time indoors applying. Some outdoor seasonal jobs are starting to show up. I’m going to give some of those a try. Then I can get paid to assault the weeds on someone else behalf and still go home smelling woodsy. 🙂

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  4. Good to hear from you, Melanie. I’m no expert in job hunting nowadays since I’ve been retired from work for nearly 10 years, however, listen to what you said at the end of this post!

    “Leveraging” is not the best word but “networking” surely is; those tree roots need the fungus & the mycelium but the fungus & mycelium need the tree & other trees too!

    🤗🙋‍♂️

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  5. You could teach, obviously. Give / hold courses – we have something here called Volkshochschule (Adult Education Centre ?) (“vhs”), I once taught there Franconian History. BUT you’ll need a lot of courses to make a living.
    (And it is a shitty feeling when the course you prepared with all your idealism falls flat because no one wants to come and listen to, much less PAY for, your mumble. I just know this.)

    Self employed – there is just one possibility to know whether it works, by doing it. What about “gouvernement forms” ? We just asked the financial administration, and they were happy to help, explained traps etc. Nice people, at least in my experience, when you ask them, nicely.

    One thing : If you decide to be your own business, please : Never ever do “mates’ rates”. Calculate what you cost (be not shy !), and then demand it. NO discount. ABSOLUTELY NO.
    (You never recover from the “special price for a friend”- thing, never start it.)

    Is there no agency, or a private company, that does “Re-Naturierung”, renaturation or rewilding ? What is with planning of gardens & parks with a special emphasis on the values you hold high ? How about inner city areas that may be turned from industrial desert to living space again ? What about private gardens for growing – ithastobesaid : “vegetables” – you get the drift, you know more about this than me. And you know your surroundings, the communal authorities, the places where something like this is possible – and where not, because.
    Is no one in those collapsing cities over there interested in forming a program or something that you could join / shape etcetc ? Do you have to invent that stuff yerself ? There must be a gouvernement program with money for all that green stuff – where is it ? What’s the name ? Is it used ?

    I am not sure what “intrinsic values” are. I think my spiritual landscape would be a parking lot, at Wal Mart’s perhaps …

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    1. There is a lot of interest in my area for rewilding programs and few organizations that do some projects and training. I’ve been trying to obtain one of these rare and coveted roles, but that is the problem, they are competitive, and I am not a fresh-faced grad student. Most of the orgs are related to the colleges or rely predominately on volunteers and donations with a core group of maybe three people. I know there is a niche in-between I’m just not sure how to go about it and make it viable. You only get to make a good first impression once, as they say. Some small business I thought had it all figured out and that I have supported are suddenly closing for a variety of reasons. I intend to reach out to some of them for advice.

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  6. Hi Melanie, It is so nice to read your words again!

    There is a documentary> Fantastic Fungi on Netflix, and it echoes this thread.

    I hear you, as you know, I am creating my own path, and business if I dare to call it that way. And to put yourself right there on the spot has been terrifying for me. I think you have an amazing talent in words, nature, and sensibility.

    Yes, I would pay for a person to help me organize my desk, my garden, my family farm, my writing ideas, not only the physical space but the files in my computer as well. And yes, I agree with 63mago you *we should not offer mate’s rates. When we know we offer results, we know we are good at we do, we know the price, the cost. Starting with people you know, then, the voice will be spread.

    Have you considered the Homeschoolers associations? here in CA there are Charter Schools and Orgs which support (financially) ideas, programs that benefit the communities/families that are working the same matters as you do.

    Taking classes is good, for growing knowledge and networking, but remember that over-analysis causes paralysis, it is scary out there to show a video of what you do, to introduce yourself with a manual or book at a local library, to sell yourself out, but IT IS necessary to do that step. And you have everything to do it. I know, I have known your talents for so many years and you have been my friend, my coach, my support in so many aspects in life.

    Let’s keep expanding our roots underneath, making other species to grow because of it.

    Rusted is my english, rusted is my pen but oh girl, it is so rewarding reading you again.

    Love,

    P.

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  7. Melanie! I somehow missed your return to WordPress. I’m sorry you’re on the job hunt which I know is an exhausting endeavor. You have an enormous “tool kit” and I’m sure you’ll land somewhere wonderful. My thoughts: I would pay to have someone organize my home/yard/life better BUT I know my partner is hesitant about something like that, and I don’t think that’s an uncommon partner/household phenomenon. His hesitation might prevent me from moving forward with such a plan. But I know you would excel at such a business.

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    1. Hi Tracy, I never really went away. I just tend to surface like a turtle now and then. The days go by too fast! Your input is really helpful about marketing as a personal organizer because I agree that something about a person needs to convince you it’s worth the time and effort to reach out to them. I’ve been considering reaching out a career coach and its taken me some time to get serious about it. So how would I market to someone like myself (and your husband) that reaching out to a personal organizer is worth the time? You’ve given me some ideas. Thank you! I hope you are well!

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