Karma Rocks!

I have actual proof that Karma works and what goes around, comes around.

My last job was hellish. Besides the insults, they were guilty of at least three different examples of Worker's Rights violations. But that is in the past.

I just discovered that the company is no longer in business. The owner had to take a job way below his standards. The office manager is unemployed. And the supervisor has gone back to school.

I hope they learn something about compassion and treating people with dignity. A lesson in business ethics couldn't hurt either.

I wish them all well. I also hope that they never, ever have to work in a job where they are treated the way they treated me.

Life is short. Live well.

Gratitude

I've had three of the best comments/compliments given to me within the past few months. These are kind statements that made me feel appreciated and important to someone else. My goal is to try and make similar statements to those around me so that they will know how much I appreciate them.

#1. I had met an artist who is well-known in her field. I was very impressed and excited to find out all about her. While enjoying a cup of coffee I had a chance to get to know her. Finally she stopped me and said "Enough about me. Tell me about yourself. I want to know about YOU." I was at a loss for words. No one had ever wanted to stop talking about themselves and ask about me. It made me feel important.

#2. The owner of the company that I work for gave me a birthday card recently. I was pleasantly surprised that she would not only remember my birthday, but take the time to give me a card. Inside she wrote that she was so happy with my work and that I was a perfect fit for the company. She told me that she looks forward to having me there for a long time. I felt appreciated. It was such a small note that left such a grand impression. Kind words mean so much.

#3. Today I was in a meeting. It could have been a negative, finger-pointing kind of meeting between Marketing and the Art Department. My boss started the meeting with a statement saying that Marketing had been too vague with their input for a catalog cover design. I stopped him at that point and asked if I could present some new concepts for the cover. I had taken all of the input and had come up with some classy, clean layouts. The owner of the company was impressed and selected one of my designs. Everyone was happy. Afterwards my boss came to my desk and said "Thank you. You made me look really good in there and I really appreciate that. Thanks." Again, it made me feel appreciated. I know that the way to success is to make your boss look good but it isn't always acknowledge by bosses. I am so delighted that he thanked me and appreciated my efforts to make him look good to the owner.

I continue to move forward making sure others know how much I appreciate them. It doesn't take money just kind and sincere words.

Positive and quiet thoughts fill my life.

Flight

Somewhere in a distant memory I think I must have had wings. I can feel them. When there is a strong wind I can feel my feet lift off of the ground. When I feel happy I can feel them flap. And sometimes, when I am held down by gravity, I can feel my wings droop.

I mention this because I have been at my new job for almost seven months and I feel like my wings are at full strength and I am about to take flight. I am happy and appreciated and allowed to do creative things. This is a glorious feeling.

After seven years of feeling my wings clipped and tied because of depressing jobs and mean co-workers it is an amazing feeling to stretch my wings and be happy.

“The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply that they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings" -James Barrie

A Most Auspicious Time

The bad news is: I got laid off from my job.
The good news is: I got laid off from my job.

Maybe this comes from my request to the Universe to Follow My Bliss. I've been unhappy in my job for several years but I've always been too cautious to quit. Work had been slowing down but I always felt that it was going to pick up at any moment. Then one day in August I was called in to the boss' office and politely "let go".

This being the second time I have been laid off, I was troubled but not terrified. Prior to being "let go" I had purchased a very high-end computer and an entire suite of software programs to advance my design skills. My goal was to be able to walk in to my boss' office and tell them that I quit because I had a better job utilizing all of my advanced skills.

That scenario never happened but it was a similar parting of the ways.

I was let go on a Monday, got a phone call from a placement agency that same afternoon. I went for an interview at the agency the following day. A week later they found a position for me but I needed to take a drug test and pass a background check. I passed both tests two days later and exactly 11 days after getting laid off, I reported for work at a company that just might be my dream job.

I'm still working as a temp-to-hire position for a few more weeks but the fact that they are including me in planning meetings for next year's product line seems quite positive. I love this job. I pretty much enjoy going to work each day. I sometimes can't believe that I am working in an industry that is my greatest passion. There are a few quirky people there but you'll find them everywhere.

And to top all of this off, a friend that I've been doing freelance work for, has just been offered a great job and asked me what it would take to convince me to come work with him. I'm still not sure which job I will choose. Neither job is definite yet. But what a fabulous position to be in demand.

So if I hadn't been laid off when I was then I wouldn't have been available to take the job that I love. And if I hadn't been laid off when I was then I probably wouldn't even have considered working with my friend at his new job.

The bad news is that I have two job offers and can't decide.
The good news is that I have two job offers and can't decide.

Ain't LIFE just one giant surprise party! I'm now following my Bliss!

Positive thoughts to all!

Universal vibrations

I happened to read a few book reviews about how sending out good (or negative) vibrations will cause the same to come back to you. Think positive and you will send out positive vibrations which in turn will cause positive things to come back to you. I've never read any further into this subject. Sounds interesting though.

This might be proof that it works: In May of 2007, I started researching my genealogy by accidentally stumbling upon Ancestry.com. I wanted to document old photos of my family. That June I contacted my cousin and met with them to get more information and copies of more photos. We reconnected and shared many stories.

In August my father passed and I inherited all of the family photos he had stashed away in his garage. I now had hundreds of photos and, with the help of my cousin, a way to tell the stories behind them. I was haphazardly piecing together my family's story.

Then out of the blue, I received a phone call from a man in Northern California. He said that his mother and my mother were friends and he had old photos to share. I've since been exchanging photos and stories and slowly piecing together my mother's story up to when she eventually met and married my father. If I hadn't started researching my genealogy I wouldn't have cared about all of this information that is flowing into my life. I sent out vibrations about wanting to know more about who my family was and it has all come flooding back to me. Maybe all of these books are true.

Vibrations to send out:

Discover my Bliss
Maintain Good Health
Reach Financial independence


Explore | Create | Enjoy

Flight Check

I spent most of the day uploading images for a client's website. Mind-numbing. Then, late afternoon, my boss assigns a simple banner ad and sets me loose. I started to do what he had asked and it looked horrible. I spread my wings and took flight. I loved the results. He loved the results.

And on the way to work this morning I had a new idea for my next piece of art. It might even be large enough to display. I will have to ask DB (dear boyfriend) to help assemble but I can feel the creative juices flowing.

I'll play catch-up and post a couple of pieces I've done in the past few weeks since dusting off my wings.

Altered Visions

My life seems to be defined by the simple word "serendipity" or just plain "dumb luck". Sometimes the luck is good and sometimes it isn't but I guess everyone's life is like that. This blogspot has come about by two random conversations and a podcast colliding in my head. The first from a simple question that my boyfriend asked me the other day. We were sitting at the counter in a retro diner and he saw something on the TV about a "blog". He isn't into computers so he casually asked what they were. I know there are many who would ask how someone could not know what a blog is but he doesn't spend his time on computers so it was an innocent question. I explained the principle of web-logs and thought nothing more about it.

The second conversation has been a recent on-going email exchange between a long-lost, forgotten friend and myself. He had contacted me out of the blue a few weeks ago. He had known me when I was so young that I didn't even recall who he was. We have been chatting and I've learned that he and his wife are both fine artists that support themselves through the sale and teaching of their art. This concept fascinated me because I remember being discouraged as a child to pursue fine art as a career and here I was talking to people who make a living practicing their craft.

The third random event came about from finding a podcast called The Accidental Creative. It was inspiring to hear how a creative life could be lived. I was moved to do something about my life.

Perhaps I should say a little about myself here. I am already a creative person. I make a living as a graphic designer in a small PR/marketing agency. I am miserable there. It is not a nice story but I have allowed myself to remain in a situation where I am mistreated.

So with this endless drudgery of non-creative work I had become stagnant. My only creative outlet was to do scrapbook pages at home. This is a sad statement when my career is a creative person but my most creative outlet was my hobby. It has only been a week since I started flexing my creative wings again. I'm drawing and painting and trying mixed media techniques. And it has been since yesterday that I started thinking about building a blog to track my flight back to creativity.

So this is the beginning of my creative recovery towards that vision I once had. Because I am not the same person I was when I first had this vision, I have decided that it is an Altered Vision that I seek. So here starts that journey with thanks to Johnnie, Bobby and Todd, without whom this creative collision would have never happened.