Venturing Forth into 2011, and a New, and Better Future

 The last 12 days have been busy ones.

Still learning to use Word 2007, but doing other things as well.

I've Googled my own name to see what's out there lurking on the Internet, and found that quite interesting, and even amusing, at times. ;-D

More on that tomorrow. ;-D

I've been reading several books:

What Color is Your Parachute 2011, and The Job-Hunter's Survival Guide, both by Richard Bolles, and How to Find a Job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Other Social Networks by Brad & Debra Schepp.

There is something called The Flower Exercise, in the First Book, that I plan to work on, and I've also gone into my 2 year old LinkedIn Account, and finally begun to figure out how best to use it.

You will no doubt have noticed the LinkedIn Badge in the sidebar of my, and Nikita's, blogs, and I invite you to pay my Profile a visit.

Oh, and, yes...that's me, in the suit and tie, in the yearbook mug shot to the left of these words, but more on that in a bit. ;-D

Yes, yes, the young Kiril Kundurazieff parted his hair back then, and my glasses were humongous, and my hairline was beginning to recede, just a tad, though I was only 22 years old.... ;-D

I'm 50 years old, and recently unemployed, as I've written, downsized from my most recent career as a Directory Assistance Operator.

Is this a good time to try to figure out my purpose in life, my calling, my vocation, my "dream job"?

In THIS economy? In THIS state? Or should I just settle for anything just to get by, and survive?

Shouldn't I have sorted this out in High School, & College? ;-D

 In the late 90's, when I got a computer,  I came to accept that a BS in Criminal Justice might not have been the best idea, and maybe I should have taken up Journalism, and Writing, in High School, and College, and that it was time to move on and look toward the future.

The last 12 years have been good ones, and I've became a different, better, person than I was before.

I'm not as alone as I used to be, though all my friends are ones developed online.

I proudly call myself a writer, and journalist, all be it one of the online, PJ wearing, "New Journalism", variety, and one that few know has been out there breaking stories for 8 years now. ;-D

(Just today I noticed  a 5th person hit the Facebook Like Button in the sidebar of this blog (Nikita's blog has 6 Likes!), for which I thank whoever it was (Now, if only more people will "Like", and Tweet, individual posts on our blogs!). ;-D

I don't pretend that many people will even read this post.

I want something, career-wise, that fits me, and gets me excited to get up in the morning to do more than just feed Nikita, and Elvira their kibble! ;-D

But, how to discover that career, train for it, and get it, that is the question.

To paraphrase Richard Bolles...the world has never seen anyone quite like me before, and never will again, and I have something to contribute to this world that the world needs FROM ME no matter how small, or unimportant I sometimes may think I am in the grand scheme of things.

I'm here for a reason, and something with my style, character, and stamp on it, is needed in some way..

To get to that point I have to learn how to better engage with the 21st century world of the computer, social networking, skills retraining, and job hunting.

Can I afford the time, and effort, it will take to learn so many new things?

I believe that I have no choice but to try as best I can.

One step is to try to become more involved in linkedIn.

I don't know if I'll be able to get my Profile up to 100%, with 3 Recommendations of people I worked with because I have no way to know for sure how many, if any, are on the site, but there are other things I can do.

I joined the Alumni Group of my college (Cal State University Los Angeles), on the site, and began to explore the Alumni website to learn more about it, and what I might get from joining it.

I also joined the Facebook Page as well.

By Monday I had decided to pay the annual membership, and yesterday I went to the campus for the the first time since graduation (I don't count the brief jaunt made, years ago, to get my transcipts, as I went to one building just long enough to do my buisiness, and that was that.).

When I arrived I didn't recognize the place except for the Transit platforms on the freeway where most of the busses pick up, and drop off, passengers, and the Library Building. ;-D

I made more than a few people, students, and staff, laugh, during my few hours on campus with my observations about various changes. ;-D

 I wandered around, seeing all that was new, discovering that the Criminal Justice, and Forensic Studies, Schools were in a new building, on the outer fringe of the campus, across the freeway from the McDonalds.

Maybe a Donut Emporium had opened up over there in the last 20 years, and that accounts for the change in location, I don't know, but I didn't go traipsing over to find out. ;-D

I had to laugh when I saw the "Food Court" across from the fancy Student Bookstore: They still won't let McDonalds come across the freeway, but they welcomed a Carl's Jr., and a Starbucks on campus. ;-D

I think students today have all gone soft. ;-D

Back in "My Day"...if we were hungry our choices were brown bagging it, campus vending machines, McDonalds, or going even further afield to East LA, Downtown, Hollywood, or Pasadena.

Everyone was real impressed not just over how well preserved I was, but my Class Yearbook, and Diploma also were that I had brought along with me. ;-D

The Student Union building is huge, now, compared to the one in my day, and there, and in the Library, there are row, upon row, of Computers for students to access, compared to back in my "Stone Age" days of using pen, pencil, and paper for everything. ;-D

In addition to various discounts, an alumni library card, and other things, including getting involved as a volunteer if one chooses, membership gives access to the career center, and help with job searching, and career retraining.



 

Walking around campus I saw that some things hadn't changed.

There were still places where anyone, and everyone, could post cards, and fliers, on everything, and anything, offering this, or that, promoting, or denouncing, this, or that, from every political perspective you could think of, and some you might not have even imagined existed. ;-D

I found myself laughing, and scratching my head, sometimes over the same flier. ;-D

I eventually stopped to rest outside the Student Union, and settled down to read a book, and write down the thoughts, and observations, I'm sharing here.

I also read the college magazine, discovering that I spent 2 years as a classmate with the great athlete (Track & Field & Baseball), actor, and author, Tommy "Tiny" Lister.

Small world ain't it? ;-D

I ended the day with a walk thru Olvera Street, and dinner at Phillipe's The Original, near Union Station, downtown.

In California 1in 8 people are unemployed, and there is a 12.4% rate (9.6% in Orange County), and many take a full year to find a new job, and just over 40% were downsized/layed off.

The economy in this state is not the best these days, and many workers, and employers, are getting out while the getting is good.

Does reflecting on the past illuminate the future?

Richard Bolles says that a persons life isn't just a matter of what kind of work you do, but of who you are, what kind of person you are, and whether you choose to be the best YOU you can be.

That's never been easy for me.

12 years ago I made peace with the choices made, and not made, in High School, and College, and the, mostly, fullfilling career I had made for myself up to that point ( I was a long time employee with a bookstore chain, and been a store manager for  the last 8 years.).

8 years ago I re-discovered a long dormant creative writing talent, and even a talent for journalism, when I became a blogger.

A lot of good has come of this, since, despite my lack of certain computer skills, time, connections, resources, or audiences, and in the last year I've begun to think that there has to be some meaning, some purpose, to my sticking to it all these years, and the evolving success of this year, with Nikita, and his blog.

John Cardinal Newman once said, "To grow is to change, and to become perfect is to change often."

Well, I ain't the person I was in 1997, that's for sure.

That's a hell of a lot of change, trust me. ;-D

Although I've not made as much of all that change as maybe I might have, I feel extremely proud of what I've accomplished.

I'm now trying change once again...

I'm attempting to learn new computer, and other, skills, in the hopes they will not only help me as a writer, and Blogger, but help me find a new career as well.

My Mission in Life?

Is it connected to my passions?

Reading, writing, Cats, bicycling, photography, the outdoors?

I've certainly used my blogs to explore all of those in one way, or another.

A new year, a new me? I hope that will be so.

I've begun to learn new skills, but another thing I've learned that I need to try to do is what the more tech savvy, attuned to the ways of the internet, & 21st century communication, call "Connecting", and "Social Networking".

I need to learn how to do more with Facebook, Twitter, a long dormant Cafe Press account (Or going to Zazzle instead?), and even my blogs, to make myself known to the wider world, get "Linked In", and linked up.

Not easy to do when I didn't exactly socialize much growing up, or in my adult working life (I AM a bachelor, still, afterall), not even enough, at my last 2 jobs, to know the names of many beyond my supervisors.

Many of my interests, away from school, and work, were not the same as my peers, and co-workers and, growing, up I had other responsibilities, and activities, at home that made me grow up a lot quicker as well.

I don't have friends except those I've made online over the years (There are some of those who have helped me in ways too numerous to count, to become the person I am today), and old school friends rediscovered on Facebook, and still don't have a lot of ties related to my blogging efforts.

No matter how good your blog, and your writing, and I've some very well known people in the Blogosphere, journalism, and entertainment realms praise my efforts over the years, audience share, tech skill, resources, and connections, matter to many of those who take passing glances at your work, from readers, and fellow bloggers, to industry insiders related to what you may blog about.

Also reader tastes for, and even grasp of, what you are attempting to do, play a part in building a place for yourself online.

I've spent 20 years in Retail, and 6 in Communications, but is my future neccessarily meant to be in either?

Is it tied to my writing?

At this point I do not know.

That may frustrate some who made it thru this much of this Magnum Opus, but that's where I find my thinking to be, as frustrating as it is to me as well.

Next week I hope to finally get a Career Retraining Counselor at the local job center to take notice, but I also want to go to the Career Center at my Alma Mater.

As I wrote, before, I prefer to see mostly clear skies, and the potential for a better, sunnier, future ahead of me in my next 50 years.

Any encouragement, advice, tips, job, training, or apartment, leads would be appreciated.

February 2011: What Color is MY Parachute?  - A 5 Part Self-Exploration.

Comments

[Kea]

I wish I had tips or suggestions.

I had to restart my life in my late 30s, after divorce, and now, at 46, I wouldn't want to do it again, though am well aware in these difficult economic times that I might have to.

I didn't want to do it then -- lol -- and remember the sheer terror, as I'd been out of work for a year and a half. But I had to support myself at that point, and so had no choice, did what I had to do.

I would just say, don't give up.

Push, push, push, make yourself heard.

Hard to do if you are introverted (as I am), but sometimes necessary to step out of your comfort zone.

Set your intention, and focus, and refuse to accept anything less from the Universe.

Be fully committed to what you want.

For example, in my case I needed a full-time job that paid a certain amount to keep the townhouse, pay the bills. I got it, within $500/year actually. But I was VERY clear about what I needed and wanted and even where I wanted to work, so pushed until it happened. There was no way in h*ll I was giving up until I got what I wanted.

As for the blogging, I do it for sheer fun and nothing else.

And it's been a while since I've checked in with Nikita's and Elvira's blog, just because I can't keep up with them all (on the CB).

You know, when I was younger, I used to think life had purpose, had meaning.

I had things all figured out. Now? Not at all. The only thing that seems to give life meaning at this time is to help alleviate the suffering of at least one Being.

That's it. Compassion. Perhaps that's everything.

Anyway, thanks for the comment on my Musings blog and I wish you the best as you move forward.

I'm sending you universal Light for whatever it is you need at this time!

-Mom Kim (with the Fuzzy Tales crew)