The New Job and Finding Balance

As always my quest is to make every experience a learning experience, no matter how painful, awful, discouraging, hurtful, or alarming the experience may be. I now have a full time job which does not please my entrepreneurial spirit but is nonetheless necessary and I am grateful for the money it is providing me.

Remember how I asked for a personal assistant position? Well, even though that is not my job title, my duties are very much like a personal assistant. I am working for a company called MVP which stands for Multi Visual Products. We take the digital photos from school and sport photographers from all over the United States and create fun products like trading cards, christmas ornaments, plaques, wheaties boxes, magazine covers and magnets, etc... Imagine kids all over the country getting their pictures taken, and we are the people who process those orders...ummm, YIKES! The sports and school photo season lasts from September through November and we will process over 200,000 packages in that time frame (not individuals, entire packages)! I am currently working in packaging, and have moved to different departments all week learning data entry and inspection. It is quiet there, everyone is very efficient, all the departments help each other. So far it is not stressful, and the work environment is low key. My understanding is that all of that will change in the next two weeks.

I still have my winery job, so that means I am putting in a 7 day work week. This does throw off my balance quite a bit, but I feel it is necessary to get as much income flowing as possible at this point. The new job is only seasonal at this point, it is not permanent, but I will know more about that once the season changes. I will either be dismissed until next season or I will be offered a fulltime position with the company.

Finding balance. Well, that is a tough one...however I think I can manage it. I am still online after work, my kids are learning to do chores around the house such as laundry and feeding animals, I still practice my music, and make sure I get plenty of sleep. My diet is not fantastic and it is hard to keep up with my supplements and my water intake, but I will work on that too.

My goal in the next two weeks is to send thank you cards to all my supportive friends who have been praying for me and helping me bring in income over the past few months. I absolutely have the most supportive and loving friends on the planet, and I want them to know my gratitude.

OK, off to work! Love to all! :)

The Rover

As some of you know, I work at a winery on the weekends. This particular winery is under new ownership and they are constantly trying to fill the position of a security groundsman. This basically means they want someone to walk around and keep people from bringing food onto the property, keep kids close to their parents, report drunks and control traffic, littering, etc... They have not had much success at filling this position, so they decided to deem one of the current tasting room personnel as The Rover. Each Saturday and Sunday we rotate the responsibilities. Aiy Yai.

Guess who was the FIRST to be deemed "The Rover"? You got it...me.

I heard no end of the taunting and teasing from my co-workers as I greeted guests, picked up garbage, and scouted the grounds for rouge picnickers. I teased back stating I wanted a badge, but I did not want it to say "Rover" I wanted it to say "Rockstar". It was only 105 degrees in the shade that Sunday, so I was pleasantly damp under my clothes, and my hair conveniently stuck to my head. I drank water all day and still came home extremely dehydrated. I know all of this sounds like I had a miserable day, but it was actually quite fun.

Besides my winery job I have joined the ranks of the employed once again. Yes, me... FULL-TIME employment, OUTSIDE my home. With my winery job on the weekends, I am now working 7 days a week. I know I have constantly touted that I would be self-employed forever, but when you are a spiritual being you learn to "go with the flow" and "learn from the opportunities" that life hands you. I am learning to be flexible and creative with my time, economical with my dollars, and keep on singing a song in my heart. If I am unable to write as frequently as I used to, please understand.

Empowerment

This is a tough one for me.

When you make a dozen phone calls and never get a live person on the phone, only menu options and voicemail. Do you feel empowered? Do you feel like you have gotten anywhere?

When you plead your case with urgency and the response you get from the other party is "I'm sorry I can't help you". Do you feel empowered?

When you see a friend suffering, do you feel empowered?

These are all things that make me feel quite helpless. Obviously I am going through some issues here at home. My mortgage lender has not been paying my property taxes in a timely manner, so I am threatened with foreclosure. Fun, right? Will anyone talk to me? Nope. All the lender will tell me is that the matter is pending. PENDING? Hellooooo! FORECLOSURE!!! What part of that little deadline do you NOT understand? Can the property tax people talk to me and please tell me if the lender has made any attempt to contact them? Nope, they can't tell me. In the meantime I have considered hiring an attorney, which I cannot afford and really don't have any faith that that would get me anywhere. So, I called my friend Tina...who seems to know the answer to everything. I plead my case to her. She immediately starts spouting off advice on how to pursue my lender with threats of fraud and tell them I am going to contact the banking commission, the FBI and the Treasury Department. I hung up the phone and got busy. I felt empowered. I composed a letter. I researched the internet. I made phone calls and left tons of VOICEMAIL. Later in the day, I contacted my lender and they told me (hahaha) that they have been working on my issue today and it is nearly resolved. I am really not sure I believe them, but somehow I felt slightly accomplished by the end of the day. I ended my day by going out and having a drink with a friend. Cheers!

What does empowerment mean? It means that you do not feel helpless. When you feel helpless you give your power away to the other party. They win. You lose. Anger is the same. Frustration is the same. They win. You lose. Can you imagine all the energy vampires in the world who feed off of anger and frustration? How can you stop this? How can you regain your power. I know it helps me to talk to my friends. I don't call to complain, I call to ask for help. Be specific. In this case, my request was, "I need to know how to get through to my lender the importance of paying my property tax." Tina was the person to ask. She is a warrior. No one messes with the mighty Tina. Once I had all the resources she recommended, I felt empowered. I made the phone calls, I wrote the letters, I sent the faxes...I no longer felt drained by anger and frustration. I had energy, humor, laughter and...empowerment. When I made that last phone call to my lender and they said the matter was nearly resolved, I knew I had accomplished something. I had taken my power back.

I am going to be reviewing the other areas of my life today and find where I am feeling frustrated and giving my power away. I am going to find more empowerment today.

I am a power junkie!!! See? Laughter, its GOOOD!

What Is Your Subtext?

I was a student of the Performing Arts for many years. I was going to be an actress. Although I didn't end up being an actress, all the classes I took provided some really great life lessons. I use my acting techniques all the time to get through life.

One of those techniques is "listening".

In improv class we had to learn to LISTEN to the other actors. We didn't have a script so we actually had to LISTEN to what the other person was saying in order to respond appropriately. Responding appropriately was another important aspect to improv. Good improvisational actors do not disagree with their partner on stage, they find a way to keep the conversation rolling. So if your partner says "Today is the 4th of July", you do not respond by saying "No it isn't!" If you say that, your partner has nowhere to go with the conversation because you just killed it. Your appropriate response might be "what time are the fireworks?" or "Cool! Let's have a picnic!"

In life you will have millions of relationships and conversations...so do yourself a favor, LISTEN and RESPOND APPROPRIATELY. Do not put up stop signs; instead ask questions or come up with ideas. Keep the ball rolling. Learn about your partner, investigate the possibilities, and create possibilities.

Another great technique is learning about SUBTEXT.

When you are an actor, you get a script...right? You read the lines you are given, but your job as an actor is to find out what the character is actually THINKING when he is saying those words. For example, your line might be "It's a beautiful day!" but your character is actually thinking about how she just broke up with the love of her life. It was very common in acting class for you to read a line and the teacher would ask, "what is your subtext?" So, think about it. How would you say the line "It's a beautiful day!" if your heart was full of sadness and despair. That is acting.

In life, I often ask myself, "what is your subtext?"

Of late I have been begrudgingly looking for a job. Searching Craigslist, submitting my resume, going on interviews and getting very little response. It is depressing. A few days ago my friend, Wendy says, "you cannot find a mundane job because that is not what you truly want." and I heard myself asking myself, "what is my subtext?" My subtext is, I want to sing.

After admitting that outloud...all kinds of useful information came my way. My friend who is a promoter came up with all kinds of ideas how to get me some singing gigs in Old Town Temecula, she knew how to get my music recorded and who to contact to rent the equipment from fairly inexpensively. Now it is my job to formulate my solo routine.

ANYWAY, the point of this blog post is...that the Universe listens to your subtext. You cannot fool the Universe. If you are sad, it knows, you cannot fake it. If you are lonely, it knows. If you are hopeful, it knows. If you have faith, it knows. If you want to sing...you better get BUSY!

More About Finding My Keys...errr, FOCUS

Yesterday was truly an amazing day. If you like what you read here, please be sure to go read my personal blog at HousethatMoonGirlbuilt.

Yesterday I was chatting with my friend, Darrel. He is always an inspiration to me. Even a hum drum conversation with him picks me up and makes me quite aware of my surroundings. He is good people. He told me that he saw David Cook on TV the other day, and it made him think of me. He said, "David Cook made his dreams come true, and I know YOU can do that too." Well, his confidence in my abilities was admirable, I typed back to him..."I really want to sing." He answered, "I know you do."

So, if you can, please try to follow my train of thought...LMAO. When Darrel said this I could not think for the life of me how to get my singing career going. I was again, multi-tasking and searching Craigslist for opportunity. The words SOLO ARTIST popped out at me. So, I asked Darrel, "do you think I could promote myself as a solo artist?" and he quickly responded, "Why not?" and we talked in length about the possibility of pre-recording back-up music and singing on my own without a band.

See how I keep using the work "promote"? This word is my downfall. I do not know how to promote. I am quite bad at it. I have never been a salesman, and could not sell ice to an Eskimo. BUT my neighbor KRISTINE can! And she knows all the people who run the local jazz festival here in Temecula. BINGO. I talked to Kristine, and IRONICALLY the head of the jazz festival was at her pool party. He told me he could help me get the music recorded and he could rent me all the equipment I needed to put on a show. Ummmm...hello? God? This is MoonGirl! I'm STOKED!

I am going to start working on my plan today. Make a list of people to talk to, and a to-do list. Also, my old vision board is coming down because it seriously was not working for me. I am going to visualize my true goals and maybe a new vision board will materialize.

So my two new words are Personal Assistant and Solo Artist.

There is still more to write about. So, stay tuned.

I Can't Seem To Find My Keys

So, here's a little more insight into me, (as if you really wanted to know and you were begging for more information). I am on this personal quest...right? Ultimately my goals are to help people, make money and be insanely happy and stress-free.

OK. Understood.

The biggest part of me knows that we are all here for service. You, me and Joe Blow...God wants us to help one another.

OK. Understood.

So I come up with all these really cool ideas, I blog, I put up vision boards, I write intentions, I build websites, I follow my creative urges...and then...silence. Nothing. I can here the crickets outside and they are taunting me. My muse runs and hides, my soul sinks, and I totally lose focus. My Subconscious, starts crying, "what have I done wrong? why doesn't anyone care? how am I going to pay my bills and continue raising my family? nobody loves me! waa waa waa!!!" That is my freak out point.

When I lose focus, it is a lot like misplacing my car keys. I go on a mad hunt. I look in the kitchen, in the laundry basket, upstairs, downstairs, rummage through every drawer and cabinet. Maybe it fell between the crack of the sofa cushions, I dig and search and frantically tear apart everything to find...my focus. I look for clues and signs, sniffing out the breadcrumbs that will lead me to it. WHERE DID I PUT THAT DAMN FOCUS???

Yesterday I saw two words in an ad on Craigslist. Personal Assistant. This had a nice ring to it. I quickly visualized this word being printed on a T-Shirt and saw myself wearing it. After all, personal assistants HELP PEOPLE don't they? Personal assistants are busy, they have projects and deadlines. They are dependable, quick witted, and useful. I went over and talked to my neighbor, Kristine, who owns an advertising agency. I said, "Kristine, I want to be a personal assistant." she said "great, can you type?" she handed me a stack of papers and a highlighter. I finished her project in 2 1/2 hours. She said I was "a life saver". YAY ME! Today she called me and asked if I could go to the grocery for her and help her organize a party for her son. UHH, YA! Done, in less than 2 hours. I'm pretty good at this! She and I brainstormed and decided we could add my service to her promo business. "Can't Get To It?" that's our slogan. Kristine knows tons of business people, her phone rings all day long, she is impossible to have a conversation with. She is the happiest, bubbliest, success magnet I have ever met. She doesn't know it can't be done. She just does it.

This might just be a good thing.

I have more to write about, but I have to get to the pool and help Kristine celebrate her son's coming home party! I promise there is more to this story!!!

Dan In Real Life

I'm am sitting here crying.

As part of my venture of "getting a life", I decided to join Netflix and rent some movies. I have had quite a few DVD's on my wish list and have seen some pretty awesome movies the past couple of weeks. (note to readers, I HIGHLY recommend Netflix, it is a COOL service!) So far, I have seen all 3 Seasons of "Weeds", I also rented "August Rush" and "Pay It Forward". Really, really great movies with a tremendous message.

Tonight I watched "Dan In Real Life". I have to admit, I am a hot and cold fan of Steve Carell, but the more I watch him, the hotter I get. After tonight's movie...I am ON FIRE. This was a tremendous acting job done by Mr. Carell. He did not over-act, make funny faces or do any slapstick...he was just a regular guy. OK, he was a widower with a broken heart and three girls to raise, but how much more regular can you get? We have all seen Steve be cheesy, but if you have not seen this movie, you have not seen his versatility. Also, as usual I am all about the message. I won't preach...just rent this DVD. 5 stars!

P.S. Can't wait to watch "Get Smart"!

Focus

OK, I'll admit it. I am attracted to shiny things.

I apologize for not blogging regularly and losing focus from personal development. Life kind of took a turn for me the past few weeks, and I have been very distracted. (ooo, shiny!) But, guess what? This happens. I am a single mom and I have two boys, one of which has some emotional issues, and the truth is I have become so wrapped up in my computer work and writing that I have put my kids on the back burner, and my social life has been non-existent. So, it is time to wake up and focus on the immediate issues at hand. I would ask for help, but I am not really sure what kind of help to ask for. I have been praying and meditating, but God's answers come in a whisper, and sometimes it is hard to hear.

My plan for awhile is to focus on my children and myself. I need to get out and see a little bit of the world, and not through the eyes of my computer monitor. I went to the beach with my kids yesterday, and tonight I am going to listen to some music with friends. I am going to fix my hair, wear make-up and everything. I am going to stop digging for treasure. I am going to put out some buckets to catch the money that rains from the sky. I know there is a perfect job for me out there, and it is finding me.

Much to do today. Blessings to all my friends. Over and out.
Lisa