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.

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.