I am grateful for the willingness to do whatever it takes to stabilize my financial situation.
Yesterday I attended orientation for my job as caregiver to house-bound and elderly people.
The tag line on the top of the training brochure was: The Journey Begins.
Most of the other people have few other skills and quite a lot of caregiver experience. Indeed one had cared for Liz Carpenter, the former press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson. That would be a cool gig.
I was the only person in the room with mad e-commerce marketing skills and who owned an Internet business. So when my turn came to introduce myself, the look on people’s faces was priceless.
Yeah. I know. What am I doing here? I ask myself the same question. I’m taking a desperate measure to pay for gas, groceries and necessaries.
It’s not the first time.
Some day I will write a resume that contains all the jobs I’ve taken when I was traversing dire straits and needed ready cash.
Babysitter. Receptionist. Typist. Manpower girl with mad typing skills. Barmaid. Bartender. Retail store clerk. Restaurant hostess. Cashier in a gas station.
And don’t forget flight attendant. That was a full-time job which only required part-time work. At least the way I showed up.
And then there were all the freelance gigs. Kobs & Brady. Lerner-Scott. Keith Bates. Others too numerous to mention or ones I choose to forget.
Somehow out of all of it, I cobbled together a professional career. I graduated from “freelance writer” to corporate television producer to brand marketing executive to e-commerce business owner. I won assignments with some great clients and made a decent living, albeit feast or famine.
Now I am coming full circle but rather than baby-sitting other people’s children, I’ll be baby sitting their parents.
When I interviewed, the recruiting agent asked if I could see myself doing this for long.
*eye roll*
I honestly don’t know. I do know that working my ass off for $9 an hour is better than waiting for sales and worrying whether I can buy groceries and keep gas in my car. And I do know that such temporary gigs often motivate me to get out of my fear and into high gear: I can do better than this.
I have knowledge. I have skills. I have experience. These have market value.
Who are my prospects?
I am also aware of my self-limitations.
It’s been almost a year since my brainstorm to launch a website dedicated to the sustainable food community in order to create editorial and blog marketing assignments from them.
Isn’t it just simpler to ask them what they need? Such is my fear of rejection. Also I have quickly realized that my ego is not sufficiently elastic to write for other people.
I prepared a table-top poster announcing the opening of her new store for one of the artisan crafters as a gift. I about came undone when she wanted me to change the headline. It sounded “funny.”
Um. It’s supposed to sound funny. It’s provocative. It’s memorable. It’s pithy.
This experience reminded me why I am not everyone’s cup of tea nor is everyone a good fit for me.
I don’t take direction. I hate negotiating with client about what works. I have always done my best work when I’ve had clients with clear goals, a healthy budget and the confidence to let me do my thing.
But the simple truth today is that I no longer know what that “thing” is.
I want to be clear, well, happy, fulfilled and a multi-millionaire. In order to engage the magic of the Universe, I am willing to get off the sofa and into life. Knock on doors. Turn over rocks. Be on the initiative and be available for synchronicity and serendipity.
This is where the journey begins.
