Yes, dear reader, my funemployment is coming to an end. The past six months have been both stressful and amazing. While I fretted over looking for a new position, I also made time to indulge in a few of my favorite things, namely, traveling, hanging out with friends, and reading a lot of books.

Being able to keep my head focused on the non-job hunt matters truly helped to keep me sane. I’m returning to the workforce with a different outlook on life and what’s important. And I’m truly thankful to my family and friends for reminding me of that. It’s too easy to lose track of those things when you’re in work mode simply due to focusing on deadlines, interoffice relations, and such.

So, here are a few tips that helped me over the past several months.

1. Take stock of your finances. This is crucial because you’ll likely have to cut back on indulgences for a while.
2. Network, network, network. Let everyone — and I mean everyone — know that you’re looking for a job. You never know if your grocery check-out cashier has a cousin who works for a company of interest to you.
3. Read or listen to audiobooks that are of personal and of professional interest to you. I spent my reading time catching up on a few historical fiction titles as well as reading books by Seth Godin and Tim Ferriss.
4. Spend time with your family and/or friends. I was fortunate to do both. They’ll keep you motivated.
5. Meditate, pray, reflect, whatever you call it. Take time out for yourself in a quiet space to think about your life, where you are today and where you want to be in the future. Then, start working towards getting there.
6. Exercise. I will admit that I gained some weight during my funemployment. (I will, however, not admit to how much I gained.) It’s really easy to sleep in, eat a lot, and not work it off. However, after attending a booty camp in late June, I found my motivation again and started moving. (Thank you, Jodee!)
7. Hang out with animals. I was fortunate to pet-sit for friends this summer. Cats and dogs will teach you how to live and help figure out your priorities. Seriously.

This post is from Dimple and a Smirk (dot) com. Text written within the blog entries, unless otherwise noted, are my own thoughts and ideas. © 1998-2010 Celestial Muse Productions. Dimple and a Smirk (dot) com by A. L. Venable is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

I listen to the finest worksong

The brace has taken up residency on my left ring finger thanks to a freak accident involving the seemingly simple act of pulling up a chair to a table at a bar.

I’ll spare you the gruesome details, but it involved a nasty cut, a trip to the emergency room (super-massive thanks to my friend Matt for driving me there post-haste amid my “Aaaah! Blood!!!” freakout), a tetanus shot, X-rays, and finally, stitches. The folks in the Legacy Good Sam ER were all amazing. They were friendly and had me cleaned and stitched up in about an hour.

It’s taking a while to get used to typing with this brace on my ring finger. It makes using the left side of the keyboard a bit tricky, but I’m adapting. As if I’m going to stay away from the computer…

This post is from Dimple and a Smirk (dot) com. Text written within the blog entries, unless otherwise noted, are my own thoughts and ideas. © 1998-2010 Celestial Muse Productions. Dimple and a Smirk (dot) com by A. L. Venable is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Wrapped around your finger

But, what about when you have to share “private” information with a company? It involves a lot of blind trust because you won’t know something is wrong until after a breech occurs. And even then, there’s usually language in that terms of service agreement you just checked off to submit your information that limits their liability. That’s the part that scares me the most. Despite having a blog and providing some details about my life, I’m not ashamed to admit being a bit paranoid about things like this.

For me, I think about the judgmental aspect of it. The pharmacist who fills my prescription each month. Sure, they’re bound by ethics and laws to maintain a level of privacy, but, are they quietly judging me because I take *bleep*?

I used to get e-mails from Safeway showing “nutritional snapshots” based on products I purchased in their stores (data gathered from using their discount card program). Is there a person sitting on the other side of the screen going, “Wow, she buys a lot of flour. She must like carbs a lot.”

Still, knowing that I have to share things about my life to get ahead leaves me conflicted. I know the outcome will make this all moot, but it’s still something that floats through my brain.

This post is from Dimple and a Smirk (dot) com. Text written within the blog entries, unless otherwise noted, are my own thoughts and ideas. © 1998-2010 Celestial Muse Productions. Dimple and a Smirk (dot) com by A. L. Venable is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Watching the detectives

My response is below, but first, a warning: I look horrible in the video. The training session started at 8AM Eastern and I was still getting used to the time zone change. I had arrived in NYC about 14 hours before the start of the session and should have consumed more coffee. It’s a miracle I was able to put together cohesive sentences.

Click here to view the embedded video.

While some may bristle at my usage of the word voyeur in my response to the question posed, I honestly feel that way. In blogging for over six years, what makes blogging and writing so worthwhile is the ability to share my story with a bunch of strangers. Yes, it’s true, you’re not getting the whole story. In honesty, I’d say you’re getting 75% of the story. I’ve shared enough information that you could have a decent conversation with me.

Likewise, I love reading other blogs to see a glimpse of how other people live, how they deal with life’s challenges, and to get a sense of their humor and wit.

So, yes, blogging seems to be this phenomenon that some people get and others don’t, but really, it’s just a new way to share our individual stories. Just to a slightly larger audience…

Click here to view the embedded video.

This post is from Dimple and a Smirk (dot) com. Text written within the blog entries, unless otherwise noted, are my own thoughts and ideas. © 1998-2010 Celestial Muse Productions. Dimple and a Smirk (dot) com by A. L. Venable is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

But these stories don’t mean anything

As I continue the job hunt, it’s amazing how many “hey, can you do this for free/on your own dime?” announcements I come across. Do not tell me the “compensation” of writing unique content for your blog is a link. Gee, wow. If this were 1995, that would be nice, but you know why people say, “you get what you pay for?”…because that’s the truth. Why should I spend time coming up with witty copy for a site to help you earn money?

As much as I love writing, I also like vodka, chocolate, frequent trips to Sephora and other items that require this little thing called currency. You know cash, moola, shekels, and so on.

The sad part is people seem to think creating new content, new code, new designs, etc. are something that anyone can do on the fly. So, instead of paying for quality, you have a bunch of sites subsisting off of low-quality design, content, and code developed by their neighbor’s sister’s cousin twice removed because someone didn’t bother to come up with a cohesive business plan that includes things such as paying your talent.

Come to me when you’re willing to pay for my Sephora habit or at least set me up with a bar tab at the Doug Fir. Until then, keep “employing” those people who will write for free.

Likewise, those folks who accept non-paying writing gigs from professional sites, my advice to you is simple: Value your work. If you don’t, you’re ultimately devaluing the rest of us who like to make a living off producing things. I’d rather risk losing a gig by requesting to be paid than to sell my talents short by working for free.

This post is from Dimple and a Smirk (dot) com. Text written within the blog entries, unless otherwise noted, are my own thoughts and ideas. © 1998-2010 Celestial Muse Productions. Dimple and a Smirk (dot) com by A. L. Venable is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

See something you like, you gotta pay me