Reflecting...

(*warning* long, non-crafty post)

I must confess that I struggle sometimes with my blog. It is primarily focused on my paper crafting so I try not to get too personal. It's a balance between being open and friendly (which comes quite easily to me) and not revealing too much private information. Generally, I just do a little bit of chit chat and share tiny bits of my life. However, today, instead of sharing a card with you I'm going to share a few of my thoughts...

Tomorrow it will be one year (one year today if I go by the day of the week) since I got "laid off", "let go" or as I like to say now "corporately restructured out of a job". I started off by saying "fired" but people were quick to remind me that "fired" means I did something wrong, which I didn't. I really thought I would be back to work in a few months and every month that goes by brings a moment (or two or three) of sadness. It's been a roller coaster of a year of fighting the negative while celebrating the positive (see my New Year's post, which again, was a little more personal). I have moments of questioning my decisions about my education and career path. It's also been a roller coaster these last few weeks, as I attempted to stay positive, while this less-than-auspicious anniversary loomed closer. The general energy around me right now is very much like a roller coaster too. There are people close to me who are riding waves of new and exciting opportunities and others who are struggling to keep their heads above water while they deal with extreme grief and loss. I do my best to be happy for those who are up and be supportive for those who are down.

I have to say that I am grateful to have lots of people supporting me and helping out in anyway they can. Seems like every time I turn around someone new is giving me advice, support, a suggestion or lead. In addition, I'm fortunate to have a good network which I know will help me find a fabulous new opportunity. Sometimes the help is in the form of some words of wisdom... which I received from a friend in an email the other day. She is reading From Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire by Mireille Guiliano and sent me this passage to reflect on.

"Setting and managing our own expectations defines success and a path to balance and happiness. My advice is, don’t get too caught up in long-term definitions; chew on manageable short-term goals and benchmarks or you will only get frustrated, depressed or worse.

We are challenged today in our consumer-oriented, instant-gratification world by external benchmarks thrust at us. A lot of people keep score by job title and responsibility.

In French Women for all Seasons, I remarked en passant how French people generally do not introduce or define people by what they do for a living, while Americans routinely do. “I’d like you to meet Jill, she an accountant for Boeing”. I prefer saying, “I’d like you to meet Jill, she’s just back from Mexico”. In New York I know how I am introduced at parties, and it can be awkward hearing about myself and makes me think about how some of the other women in the room feel about me. Not so in France. In Paris recently, I had dinner at a restaurant with friends. We had a lovely time, and after two and a half hours left not knowing the husband’s profession at all. It was reassuring. Isn't defining ourselves and other by our job titles reductive and boring?"

One of the reasons for doing this post is to share these words with you. When I chatted with a friend about sharing personal things on blogs she said that her reasoning was that if it was educational and helped someone else, then it was worth it. So, if you are having some challenges of your own right now, maybe this will help.

With those fabulous words of wisdom and the support of my spouse, friends and family, I will march forward. I look forward to chewing on some manageable goals and to not being reductive or boring. (Not sure if it's grammatically correct to define myself as reductive but oh, well...).

To leave on a positive note, I had a great yoga class last night and am feeling ok today. As for tomorrow, I am spending my Saturday drinking coffee with my spouse, crafting with my friends and throwing myself a (non) Pity Party in dishonour of being off work for a year. :)

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by and 'listening' to me ramble. I really appreciate all of my blog readers. Every comment puts a smile on my face. Thank you.

Glenda

*the photo is one I took a few years ago in Brugges, Belgium