. . . somebody actually read(s) my blog!
This is very exciting, but also a bit shame-inducing. . . I have the feeling I write a lot of self-absorbed drivel here. It is navel-gazing with a master of arts (that makes me a "master navel gazer", thank you very much). Maybe I should write more positive things about how I am going to earn potloads of money with creativity trainings? Maybe I should write less about my digestion (dairy and wheat are not my friends)? I would love to tell the cyber world all kinds of interesting facts about my home life, but my husband would have a heart attack. I'm not sure the insurance would pay out if I were the cause of it.
Until I come up with something clever to write, I'll just bask in the glory of having a follower group of one (welcome, Jennifer!).
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
One step forward
This week, I have been in discussions with the local community ed provider about developing an art workshop for young people. It is targeted at kids from immigrant families, who might find it difficult to speak the language. The workshops are intended as a non-threatening environment for them to explore their creative sides while learning how to express themselves about the visual arts. I am super excited about this, because it feels like the right direction for my career. Growing up is so tough these days, especially if you have darker skin and an accent. I just have the accent, but lots of Turkish friends say that it is really tough for them to get apprenticeships or even part time jobs due to their backgrounds. The project feels like a good way for me to share my strengths with adolecents and help get them strong for starting their careers.
The only downside about my search for living creatively and to make positive spaces in my community is the money. I know, same old story. . . I spent the morning making a cash flow chart based on the courses that are booked for the fall and early spring. There are a few months in which I can really make it! The empty months make me really nervous, though. I need to get busier with self-marketing and business development. There have to be more people or organisations out there that are interested in what I have to offer, or I need to ramp up my Dawanda sales.
Off to read some stories about Etsians who were able to quit their day jobs and to play around on SARK's website. There is so much need for creativity and growth in this world, I have to be able to make this happen!
The only downside about my search for living creatively and to make positive spaces in my community is the money. I know, same old story. . . I spent the morning making a cash flow chart based on the courses that are booked for the fall and early spring. There are a few months in which I can really make it! The empty months make me really nervous, though. I need to get busier with self-marketing and business development. There have to be more people or organisations out there that are interested in what I have to offer, or I need to ramp up my Dawanda sales.
Off to read some stories about Etsians who were able to quit their day jobs and to play around on SARK's website. There is so much need for creativity and growth in this world, I have to be able to make this happen!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Great things are happening
When I look back at this time last year, I am incredibly grateful for the time I have had to detox from the corporate world. Last year, I felt entrapped in a toxic company, where executives got their energy from promoting rivalries and inciting bloodbaths rather than generating new business and developing employees.
One year later, I feel incredibly relaxed and thankful. In the past few weeks, I have developed a number of seminars and workshops that I will be giving this fall and next spring. My new life is beginning to take shape, and I am doing things that get me excited. I feel incredibly lucky.
I ran into a former colleague yesterday (at a bizarre German spring fair, another post altogether). He left the company in frustration two years ago to set himself up as a freelance IT consultant. Since then, he has built up a successful business, and looked completely different than he did back then. He had a glow and energy that was infectious. I told him about my own plans, and he said "wonderful - that was always your thing" - which comfirms my gut feeling. Finally, I am concentrating on "my thing" - what could be better? Of course, I worry about the financial side of things, but hope with enough infectious energy that I can open as many doors for myself as possible. Wish me luck!
One year later, I feel incredibly relaxed and thankful. In the past few weeks, I have developed a number of seminars and workshops that I will be giving this fall and next spring. My new life is beginning to take shape, and I am doing things that get me excited. I feel incredibly lucky.
I ran into a former colleague yesterday (at a bizarre German spring fair, another post altogether). He left the company in frustration two years ago to set himself up as a freelance IT consultant. Since then, he has built up a successful business, and looked completely different than he did back then. He had a glow and energy that was infectious. I told him about my own plans, and he said "wonderful - that was always your thing" - which comfirms my gut feeling. Finally, I am concentrating on "my thing" - what could be better? Of course, I worry about the financial side of things, but hope with enough infectious energy that I can open as many doors for myself as possible. Wish me luck!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before . . .
My adventures in becoming freelance in a foreign country are moving along at a nice clip. I have a huge wad of official documents in scary, extremely difficult to understand language to fill out by Monday. Somehow, I seem to have a lot more time and energy to spend with my feed reader than with the scary forms. Go figure. I have no doubts that I can make this work for at least a year - if I can just manage to get over these first hurdles. As soon as I feel that I understand something, I have a question about it. Posing the question to an expert seems to bring more areas of confusion. The situation is not helped by the fact that our tax advisor has verbal diarrhea. He is a lovely man, but seems a bit lonely with his numbers. As soon as I enter his office, I am overwhelmed by his excitement at A REAL LIVE PERSON! to talk to. And talk he does - for at least an hour (did I mention we pay him by the hour?). I now know more than I ever wanted to know about his home life and complete amazement that anyone could make a life and living at being creative.
While I do quite enjoy being A REAL LIVE PERSON!, I also like to ask my complicated scary language tax questions quickly and then go back to places where other REAL LIVE PEOPLE! are - people who talk about important stuff, like how annoying Heidi Klum has gotten, what chocolate is best and the Über-Mommy around the corner's new antics. I will be really glad when the whole scary package is filled out, discussed to death and finally returned to me with its official stamp of approval, immediately to be forgotton.
While I do quite enjoy being A REAL LIVE PERSON!, I also like to ask my complicated scary language tax questions quickly and then go back to places where other REAL LIVE PEOPLE! are - people who talk about important stuff, like how annoying Heidi Klum has gotten, what chocolate is best and the Über-Mommy around the corner's new antics. I will be really glad when the whole scary package is filled out, discussed to death and finally returned to me with its official stamp of approval, immediately to be forgotton.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Bellybutton Gazing
Here's the part where I am supposed to apologize for not blogging for a few days. But, as noone reads my blog, I can write whenever the hell I feel like it. Having no obligations is really great for creativity.
This week has been successful - I finally finished my excruciating business plan. For me, writing in German is equally as painful as having teeth pulled. It reminds me that although I muddle through, I am certainly no linguistics scholar. Most of my German I learned from Pawel, my flaming queen roommate back in the 90s. He is Polish, so our only common language was German. He taught me a lot, not just how to be dramatic auf Deutsch. We shared a 2-room flat in Prenzlauer Berg. It was "old style" - that is, heated by a coal oven in each room and no bathroom. We showered in the kitchen. He had rigged up a shower stall there. The other bathroom business was conducted in a tiny WC half a floor down. We shared it with the neighbor across the hall, a woman addicted to plush. It seemed a bit odd that the grotty old East German shared bathroom was fitted up in furry glory - a pink fuzzy toilet cover, knee-deep shag carpet, and fluffy flowers attached to the walls.
I never did meet that woman - we parked our butts on the same toilet for over a year, but never met face to face.
This week has been successful - I finally finished my excruciating business plan. For me, writing in German is equally as painful as having teeth pulled. It reminds me that although I muddle through, I am certainly no linguistics scholar. Most of my German I learned from Pawel, my flaming queen roommate back in the 90s. He is Polish, so our only common language was German. He taught me a lot, not just how to be dramatic auf Deutsch. We shared a 2-room flat in Prenzlauer Berg. It was "old style" - that is, heated by a coal oven in each room and no bathroom. We showered in the kitchen. He had rigged up a shower stall there. The other bathroom business was conducted in a tiny WC half a floor down. We shared it with the neighbor across the hall, a woman addicted to plush. It seemed a bit odd that the grotty old East German shared bathroom was fitted up in furry glory - a pink fuzzy toilet cover, knee-deep shag carpet, and fluffy flowers attached to the walls.
I never did meet that woman - we parked our butts on the same toilet for over a year, but never met face to face.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Small Great Things
"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together." - George Eliot
My business plan is moving along. Both DH and DN (dear neighbor) read it through to make sure that the German makes some sense. Tomorrow I am planning to bring it to our tax advisor for his official approval. With his go ahead, I can then collect the rest of the paperwork and get everything ready for a April 1 launch. Hooray!
The numbers still aren't adding up like I want them to. I don't want to be rich, but comfortable would be nice. Since becoming unemployed last year, I have assured friends and family that we are ok, but joke that "we just can't buy pine nuts any more." The result - pine nuts for my birthday, pine nuts for Christmas, and pine nuts just because. I cannot tell you how happy those tiny little things make us.
It reminds me of why I am calling my business "Small Great Things". For one, I wanted to keep the name pretty general, because I am a bit ADD about my life's focus. I want to be able to fluidly move from creating my own works of art or craft (regardless of the media) and teaching others to express themselves, whether creatively or through the English language. "Small Great Things" is general. But, it also reflects my core beliefs - that you can accomplish just about anything if you start small and keep focused. It also reflects my belief that if you can appreciate the small things in life, then you are truly rich. Being able to feel incredibly loved - simply by receiving and eating a pine nut - is a marvellous thing. Now, I have committed myself to the powers that be to commit my career to it as well.
Wish me luck (and lots of pine nuts!)
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