Sunday 31 October 2010

I've got a big but

I realised recently how often in my conversations I use the word but.  It's a limiting, doubting word. "Yes, but..." - we all do it.  I was thinking about not using the word in my writing any more and hadn't got much further than that when an email popped into my inbox with the following link to an interview with Neil Mularkey.

http://www.screwworkletsplay.com/blog/

Tomorrow is the first day of my new life and I'll mark it by being the "Yes, and..." queen.

Wednesday 27 October 2010

Oliver's army

"In the meadows of the mind no-one travels so far as he who knows not where he is going" Oliver Cromwell

This is such a reassuring quote.  I don't think it means it's ok to be aimless but more that exploration is a valid exercise in itself.  The meadows image is lovely too. It suggests a calm and centred journey rather than an aggressive mission or quest. 

Tuesday 26 October 2010

4,3,2,1......blast off!

I'm at my 4th last working day in the corporate world.  It all feels a bit surreal. 

Last week I had a major wobble.  Announcements of severe Arts Council funding cuts set me off.  Was my new life in the arts about to be curtailed before I'd even started?  Was I completely mad to be giving up my job in such difficult times?  Did I actually have anything I could call a plan?  Could I really take my own advice and follow my heart?  Was I wilfully in denial?  Would my worst fears be realised and would I be eating cat food in my old age?

I managed to calm down, but it was useful to acknowledge and feel these fears.  I'd been doing a very good job of pushing them aside.

Friday 22 October 2010

With apologies to Janis

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a handsome loving man?
My friends all have partners, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So Lord, won't you buy me a handsome loving man?

Oh Lord, won't you buy me the work that’s just for me?
Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me.
I wait for delivery each day until three,
So oh Lord, won't you buy me the work that’s just for me?

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a world full of fun?
I'm counting on you, Lord, please don't let me down.
Prove that you love me and buy the next round,
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a world full of fun?

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a handsome loving man?
My friends all have partners, I must make amends,
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So oh Lord, won't you buy me a handsome loving man?

Thursday 21 October 2010

The power of the group

I’m constantly forgetting and then being reminded that I don’t have to go through this career change process on my own.  It’s obvious and good advice that anyone going through change will have ups and downs and that sharing with like minded souls is both reassuring and energising.  People need people!  At a purely selfish level, networking with new people expands opportunities and gets the creative juices flowing.  It’s a two way deal.  Support < --- > Energy & Ideas.

I jokingly wrote in my Argus blog that I was embarking on my own 12 step process of change and that I was going to take myself through it by the scruff of my neck.  I missed the obvious in the metaphor.  Any 12 step programme* works because of the power of the group.

I have some great groups that I am newly a part of and, in my usual fashion, I dilly dally on the edges.  It’s time to jump in and engage.


* I do realise that this is the AA process.  I’ve not experienced it and my 12 steps will be different, but I’m guessing there will be similarities.  And I’m a pragmatic kind of girl so I like the idea of structure and methods that work!    

Monday 18 October 2010

What's my sentence?

Dan Pink challenges us to sum up what we're about with one sentence.

This is about legacy and what we want our life to be about.  It's a HUGE question and a particularly challenging one for a career changer who has yet to figure out what I want my contribution to the world to be.

What's my sentence?
"She changed her life and showed others how to do it too".

That would be pretty amazing.

http://www.danpink.com/archives/2010/10/whats-your-sentence-the-movie

Thursday 14 October 2010

The long goodbye

The ending has been a long time coming; I'm on the final stretch now.  It's been such an extended leaving (4 months since I handed in my notice) that I've had plenty of time to get used to the idea.  Endings can be strange and anticlimactic so I've decided to mark it twice.  Once with leaving drinks on my last work day and again with a party at home the day after.
    

Tuesday 12 October 2010

Reality bites

11 working days to go.  Lots of Pyschology homework to do and a new part-time job to start in November.  It's what I have been waiting for but I'm overwhelmingly tired.  Perhaps I'm so close to the end now that I'm starting to let go ahead of time.  I just want to flop. 

Fame at last (sort of)

Today I finally launched my Life/Career Change blog on The Argus website after various email exchanges and some inept techie fumbling on my part. 
And, er, they've spelt my name wrong.  I have one of those surnames that people like to "interpret".
http://www.theargus.co.uk/blogs/
PS I did check whether it should be spelt or spelled.  Either works, apparently.
PPS Since I wrote this, my name has been corrected.  Thank you, wonderful website editor at The Argus!

Friday 8 October 2010

The Money Equation

I had a good reminder today of the choice I've made and what I'm giving up financially.  The company I work for announced to the trade press that it is planning to float the company in 2012.  I have shares that I will be giving up when I leave.  No payout for me in 2012.            

Thursday 7 October 2010

B******s to Brave

Brave is such a euphemism.  

Foolish, stupid, I couldn't do it, it terrifies me, have you really thought this through?

I don't mean to be ungrateful as it's often kindly meant but it's a word you hear often if you give up your job to try something else.

I'm not being brave.  The alternative was impossible.

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success

Civilisation

The contract arrived today for my day-a-week "job in the arts".  Working hours 10 to 6.  No commute, no crack of dawn breakfasts joylessly consumed before getting on the road at 7:45. I'm liking this new way of working already.....

To get to Uni in London on Monday mornings, I have to leave the house even earlier that I do to go to my corporate job.  But I like the lectures and it's all for me.

Hee hee.

Sunday 3 October 2010

First day at big school

I enrolled at London Metro University on Thursday and tomorrow is the first day of term.  It's a long time since my first degree and 15 years since my MBA (!) so it'll be a very different learning experience I'm sure.  I'm looking forward to it, both for the content (the first lecture is on Personality Psychology) and because it's part of the bridge to my new life.