Relevant

First off this beautiful tree image is from The Graphics Fairy Blog, thank you Karen!  This post has been inspired by a contest that I entered in order to win a trip to Hawaii to have lunch with OPRAH!! In 150 words or less you needed to share what you would like to, "Grow" in the coming year.  We will see if I am a lucky winner but I wanted to expand on those 150 words so here we go.  

"Relevant" has been my official, “Word of the day” for some time now. I have been striving to grow personally and professionally and to remain relevant.  I planted my relevancy seed about a year ago.  I received a little manure fertilizer in the form of a layoff this past January.  Although this was not a complete shock it was nonetheless unpleasantly smelly.  The company had been struggling and the Snip, Snip sound of pruning shears was in the air.   I had been hoping that MY branch was not destined for the organics bin!  I also thought that I would be the one to pick my pruning day.   Alas and alack and sooner than I had hoped, I was lopped off.   I had to chop up that old branch and add throw it in the mulch pile.  I added some soil amendments in the form of some personal writing and reading, (Eckhart Tolle has been an inspiration), and I worked those in.  I still felt that my seedling was struggling a bit and so along with the redundancy manure and the soil amendments, I gave it an extra, "Root boost", by signing up for a free online class with Stanford called, A Crash Course on Creativity.  At the end of the course I will receive a certificate of completion.  What I have already received is growth in my creativity as well as in my job skills.  I started this blog! The cover letters that I send out are better than ever and I have had some amazing phone interviews.    

I was in my car yesterday and heard this song, A New Life, by Jim James from his new album, Regions of Light and Sounds of God.  It felt like a life giving spring shower.  Check out this video.  This is Jim James on Jimmy Fallon from the Rolling Stone Magazine website...turn it up and get ready to dance around...Fantastic!!!  

So, thanks to a little redundancy manure, some soil amendments, a few root boosters and a lyrical spring shower, my seed of relevancy is alive and flourishing.  I feel as though I am being drawn like a bud to the sunshine!  I can feel the breezes of creativity flow all around me! I continue to stand tall and firm in my anticipation for that elusive job offer.  My roots grow deeper and my trunk grows stronger and my branches sprout green and lush and reach towards the sunny California sky!       

May Day!

Happy May Day!! What a perfect little nosegay from the Graphics Fairy for this gorgeous first day of May.  I was not going to write today but I am sitting here at my desk and the sun is shining  and the warm valley breezes are blowing making my wind chimes sing and so I am sending out a May Day Nosegay!  Then I thought about this old video that I had watched about a year ago and it made me smile and I hope it makes you smile too!!!

Wealthful

I am on a good reading roll.  I have read three novels in the last couple of weeks.  I just finished  The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan - Philipp Sendker.  This was loaned to me by my dear friend Montse.  I loved it.  The descriptions of the main characters and the gorgeous Burmese mountains had me seeing in my mind's eye the entire novel as a motion picture.  I swear I could smell it.  Curry and eucalyptus, cool mint tea in small clear glasses and the sun on the dusty roads.  I would love to listen to the audio version of this book.  Link+ here I come!

I started a new book last night.  Not a novel.  It is Spiritual Economics by Eric Butterworth.  He was a very interesting and spiritual man.  Read a little about him when you have a moment.  So far so good.  This is a book given to me by my endlessly truth-seeking Aunt Georgia and has been sitting on my nightstand for over a year.  I decided to pick it up and read it.  My sister Marta and my mother Colette and Georgia and I had been chatting on mother's back porch earlier in the day about how technology is not only changing our world, but also our brains.  Each one of us had our own opinions on the good and the bad and the ugly of all of this technology.  I am going to choose to focus for now, on the good.  Let's spread the enlightenment!!  Once you are aware you can never be unaware again.  The fact that we can instantly and quickly "touch" each other with quick text messages was the main topic of our chat.  We went round and round and in the end "forward" won the day!  But I digress.  I saw Spiritual Economics as I was climbing into bed.

Wealthful.  A personal experience of wealth.  Not healthful.  Wealthful.  "Expose yourself to wealthful ideas-think prosperity, think substance, think affluence."  Now this does not necessarily mean monetary wealth but it could.  The introduction states that just the fact that I have started to read it means that I am open to hearing the lesson of Spiritual Economics.  I am.  I do feel abundantly blessed and lucky in many ways.  If not for my family...I would however like some abundance in my creativity vault as well as my checking account!!!  I am going to read this book and share some more as I get further.  Shed a little enlightenment for anyone that may be interested in following this little path.

One more small bit of self help info that I am using in my spare time in between jobs.  A Crash Course in Creativity is a free online six week course from Stanford that I am now in the second week of taking. NovoEd has many FREE online courses that you can enroll in and over 150 countries are participating in these classes.  Check it out.  My first assignment was to create a book cover and a title and a subtitle for my autobiography.  Then a 200 word essay introducing myself.  Fun project.  My title was From My Heart and my subtitle was If Not For My Family.  I used this picture of a  French Holy Card from the Graphics Fairy blog as part of my cover.  This is the site where I have gotten all of the graphics that I have been using here on my own blog.  They are free and in the public domain and Karen has over 3500 free vintage images.  So I am shooting Karen a solid here!

I have learned how to insert a hyperlink into my blog...Can you tell?!  So now tell me what you think about this last entry.  As always it has been a good diversion from my job of searching for a job and spiritual wealth!  LoveLoveLove~ 

April Showers

Bring May flowers!  Alright it's Friday.  Seems like it should not be a big deal when you are in between jobs and yet I still look forward to Fridays.  I give myself permission to not look at job sites on the weekends and so Fridays are my last day during the week to officially work at looking for work.  I don't HAVE to apply for any jobs until Monday!  Also I have a Saturday haircut appointment with my Marta thithy and Maestro Stefan tomorrow so yay for that!

And so this gray and drizzly Friday morning at the end of Easter vacation I spent at Peets with my Susie thithy.  A chocolate croissant and the new Mayan Mocha if you must know!  Boy howdy it was a baby day.  I think that at least 50% of the people that came in had small critters with them.  I am always amazed that on a weekday at 10:30 in the morning so many people are able to just hang out and have coffee.  They have their laptops and smart phones out, ear buds in and are plugging away.  Don't these people have jobs??  What the heck??

Amidst the unending stream of people coming and going and the murmurs of the surrounding conversations, we chatted and people watched, and  puzzled about what kinds of stories accompanied the fascinating faces and outfits.  We recognized some of the people from lives past and present.  We revisited this past week that was replete with chores and errands and familial assistance.  This got us to being nostalgic about when all of our critters were so fresh and innocent and our days of yore as youngsters and sweet memories from our own childhoods.  Susie was making preparations to spend some time with Rosie her "forever friend" which led to thoughts about all of our childhood friends and how grateful we are for them.  My auntie Teresa was telling us about a friend that she has had since grade school that called her the other day.  My cousin Lisa that had been in town for Easter commented on friends that she has kept in touch with since her school days.  My mother writes real letters to her girlhood friends!  We gathered these fragrant memories into sweet little posies that reside in our hearts to pluck willy nilly when we need a little cheering.  April showers really do bring May flowers and not just on the rolling hills that surround me.      

Love Letter

My Dear One,

Is it possible that you know the breadth of my love for thee? The breadth, the breadth, the breadth, the breadth, the breadth of my love for thee.  I tell you now.  Our love is written in the stars. Before my first breath I loved you.  Before your first breath I loved you.  After I am gone I love you.  Richer, poorer, sickness, health.  Memories of laughter gushing springlike from deep in our bellies.  Gulping cries and silent tears of heart rending sorrow.  Lessons and walks and movies and chores.  Bedtime stories and night time prayers.  Bottles and battles and favors and fights.  Whispered secrets and slides and swings and rocking chairs.  Life confirming embraces.  Soft, sweet kisses of  Eskimos and butterflies.  Enthusiastic dances to the soundtrack of our lives.  How many meals prepared by warm and loving hands?  Long, languorous talks solving problems of the world.  Separations that made the angels weep.  In spite of our misdeeds certainly passion binds us.  My heart secure that above all, our love endures. That above all, above all, above all, above all, above all, our love endures.            

My First Blog, "Call Me"

So Reina here is my first official blog!  It is a Wednesday evening and the sun has set.  The most wonderful thing about today was that I received three responses for job applications that I had sent out into cyberspace and the world wide interweb.  The first was to inform me that the job had been put on hold BUT that she was setting my resume aside in hopes that the hold would soon be lifted.  The second was to politely let me know that the position had been filled BUT they were very impressed with my lovely cover letter and professional resume and good luck with the job search.  The third reply was to let me know that she had received my "most enjoyable cover letter and fine resume."  And would I please call to chat about the position.  Insert here an ear to ear grin and the ever popular "Jazz Hands!"  Last night as I drifted off to sleep my last conscious thought was, "Can somebody, anybody just reply so that I know these applications have actually been looked at by a human being??"  Wow.  If I had only known that a little plea for recognition was all that it took I would certainly have done it weeks ago.  So knowing that  I only needed to give the universe a little nudge, I will as I drift off tonight,  implore; "Please can somebody at one of these many jobs that I have applied to in the city where I live just call me??"  If these people would just call me and talk to me and then if they find that I am unsuitable, or not a fit, well I will understand. BUT...call me.  Just call me.  Please call me.  Call me.  Call me.  Once again...call me.  Take it home...call me.