Generosity

It seems that the holiday spirit visited me early since I have been baking up a storm. Orders for the Bake for a Cure tripled in this last week. People preparing for the festivities next week. $140 raised thus far. So for this week and Christmas I would like to acknowledge the generosity I have seen not only today but all through the year. Give thanks that people are truly creative and good.
Merry Christmas.

What is a meaningful job?

Well, my goodness, "what is the meaning of life?" you ask. "What is the meaning of "meaning" in your question? And whose life? A worms?
John Updikel

So I have been pondering what exactly do I mean by a meaningful job and how do I expect to find it. So I have two questions or thought streams about this concept.

First, since I am a word nerd, defining what meaningful is, has proven to be a philosophical and perhaps a psychological conundrum.

I ran across a Philosophy paper entitled "The concept of a Meaningful life," by Thaddeus Metz, on just what is the meaning of "meaning." The essay poses some very interesting questions. First it says that, like the quote above, defining what a meaningful life is, is much too vague a concept, which I agree with.

So now we ask is meaning solely derived from a desire to fill some spiritual or humanistic duty on earth. For myself, is it to assist humanity in its progress towards a more peaceful, wholesome existence?


I would say yes. But I believe that, as I stated in another blog, to make a more peaceful world at every level you must and can start at any level. By that I mean that peace does not limit itself to the cessation of armed combat. Some of our most violent confrontations take the form of verbal arguments. Not to mention the economic violence that certain powers assert over weaker groups or individuals.

Therefore I am confronted by my own argument. What is it that this meaningful job that I am looking for, since all jobs have meaning if striving towards a more peaceful society, contains?

Latter in the essay the author questions if meaning is associated with a certain level of happiness. Latter they dispute this since consuming ice cream makes me happy but I do not find meaning in eating it. Or at least I don't anymore ;).

all this questioning leads me back to what I hear at so many job seminars mainly, that your value should not be tied up in your career achievements. I see and hear about so many people who claim to be unhappy in their jobs or seem to have no feelings whatsoever about their job. They simply care that it gives them what they need to achieve the lifestyle they desire. This makes me feel that perhaps I am alone in my drive to find a job that makes me happy and also fulfills my desire to contribute to our progress towards peace. However, I know that I am not alone in my desire to find a meaningful job.

So my second question is, Is our desire to find a meaning in our employment new? This question is harder to answer and I could not find reference to it. I read about people throughout history and society who did amazing things in their lifetimes. But have we, in retrospect given their life meaning? Did they feel like they were fulfilling some cosmic role?

I hope that in the near future I can interview people who have attained the status of a meaningful life in our society. I would like to ask them if they knew or even felt that they were fulfilling their calling? Did they know it was their calling from the beginning or did it become apparent at the end.

Any thoughts on the idea?

Still searching

Searching through the blog archives I came across this blog. It seems that Andrei Yashurin A Russian blogger has been writing articles on truth. I stumbled upon his writings because he recently wrote an entry on a meaningful life. He speaks generously about the universe and the spirit which guides us. He says:

Peace doesn’t always come to us when we seek it for its own sake. Peace is a by-product of living a meaningful life. It is a natural state for those who realize their place in the universal scheme of things, and build their lives upon this realization.

The sense of meaning gives us an exalted vision. We begin to see ourselves and all the things which concerns our life from the universal perspective. What is the result? Small things which could trouble us before, lose their importance to us. We treat them as temporary setbacks and valuable lessons to learn from, rather than inherently tragic events. Knowing that all that happens contribute to our ultimate success, we don’t worry.

Meaningful life doesn’t depend on place which we hold in life. It is the attitude which inspires us to be our best, no matter what is our place. Even if it seems that there is nothing great about who we are and what we do, we live with a deep conviction that we are needed and important. We see ourselves not as victims of circumstances, but as responsible creators of our life. While being the best at where we are, we stay open to another stage of our personal unfoldment which will be revealed to us at due time.

To read the full entry please visit http://unityway.net/blog/?p=80

Dressing for the Job

There's an old saying that we should dress for the job that we want. How many articles have I read that instructs us to wear our way up in the world?

(Strangely do you think that is what most of the world is doing with our never ceasing drive of consumption. But I digress.)

So my friend and I were discussing what our resumes say about us. Here was her question "what do we do when the standard format for a resume does not pay justice to the work that we have done?" For example both her and I have had a substantial number of Administrative jobs at varying levels. WE took these jobs because at one time we were both under the impression that ANY job in the organization/field you want is a good one. Now we are both realizing that this may not be entirely true. Do we really think that the secretary is given the chance to lead or manage a project? Yes, but so rarely.

So we both took the same root, seeking leadership opportunities in the volunteer fields. Both learning and refining our management ability.

Now back to the resume, both of us now have substantial volunteer experience however, some employers don't even look at the volunteer experience. Some only care what you do when you are getting paid, as if this determines our character. Our problem is that resumes are geared towards the "standard" tract. School, work, more work and all with increasing responsibilities. But for many of us our desire to volunteer more substantially has interrupted our work seniority, taking us around the country and around the world.

My question is how do we dress our resume for our perspective jobs? How do we show that our drive for a cause has lead us up ever increasing responsibilities and ever deepening commitment?

You might ask why we don't work for the organizations we volunteered with. Well, for the most part they are small nonprofits, barely able to pay their current employees and both of us do have substantial debt from school and living.

Baking for a Cure: Day Five

Well I have officially sold one batch of amazing Chocolate chip cookies and one Blueberry pie. I also set up an online giving forum through face book. The process of simply starting this took a little more time than I thought. I guess you never really do know how to do something until you've completed it.

This reminds of a comment made by a potential employer. After I described my process of getting a volunteer program started, she asked, "Are you just making this up as you go?" I am still confused as to why she seemed so astonished about my desire to create something and follow through without a so called degree or training. I think most people even the ones that do have training end up making up most of it along the way. So why is this so astonishing?

My current process of creating the Bake for a Cure fundraiser has taken me from an "aha" moment to a "wow I never thought that it would take this much planning" moment, but I got there. I got there by talking and listening to people I trusted, by remembering the successful events of the past. However, it was my "aha" moment that drove me to create the process, without really knowing how it would turn out. In fact, I still don't know how it will turn out, but that's what I love. The moment you get to sit back and observe the most amazing creation, that you helped create but by no means were alone in making.

I think that's what really drives me. I have the passion to create in collaboration with a community something which, will in turn create more than I could ever imagine, or perhaps even see. I think that this is how you stumble upon your meaningful life. I am just walking along, I have an "aha" moment, then we create. We create something as simple as cookies to as complex as social movements. Think about the the amazing creators of our past hundred years or even today. Gandhi, Gaffar Khan, King, the musicians, chefs, teachers and even dare I say, us blogger's. Creating a little more beauty in the world, connecting people and feeding people.

Baking for a Cure: Day Two

So I have decided on a foundation, its called Alex's Lemonade Stand. It was started by Alex, a little girl fighting cancer. She decided to raise money for her doctors to research pediatric cancers through a simple cup of lemonade. To date her foundation has raised 16 million dollars and more importantly has caught the imagination and involvement of thousands of people from children to grown-up kids. I think this is a perfect fit for the simple fundraising I envision. Alex died peacefully at age 8, lets help doctors find a cure for pediatric cancers.

Plan:
compile a list of bakeable goods.
Compile a list of possible clients(or as I like to think of them fellow Meaningful life searchers.)
Find a tribe: a group of people willing to either support me through kind words(thanks Vickie), love and hard work(making all those cookies)
Breath and love

My Aunt sent me a link to her plan to create a Mediation practice. In it she speaks about her five point business plan that includes
1) Be conscious;
2) Be teachable;
3) Be of service;
4) Always say “yes” to a mediation request; and,
5) Be the exception to the rule.

Read more about how she explains each of these at her blog.
http://www.negotiationlawblog.com/2007/02/articles/mediation/how-to-start-a-mediation-practice/

Alex's Lemonade Stand Site:
http://www.alexslemonade.org/index.php

Baking for a Cure

After a depressing few days in San Francisco I encountered something that I have found to be true many times in my short life. Job hunting is perhaps one of the most self deprecating activities one can do. Speaking with a friend who has similar qualifications to me we questioned that if, highly educated, generally optimistic, and driven women can find it depressing to search for a job what does everyone else feel? When I apply for a job that, on paper, I have all the qualifications for and still do not receive it, what does that mean? Should I, in fact listen to some and apply for Starbucks and Whole foods? Or should I trudge on, sleeping on couches and at my parents waiting for the golden ticket to appear.

Well on my three hour drive home, I was trying to think of activities I could engage in to pep myself up, when I thought, "I love cooking. I should make cookies." Thankfully, in that same moment I knew that eating them would not making me happy. So I decided to start thinking of people I could make them for. First I thought of the Senior home down the street, second the Juvenile hall kids, third...Third I thought of a fundraiser my friend Olivia does. She makes cookies to raise money for a Children's Caner Research foundation.

So that's what I am embarking on momentarily. I am going to Bake for a Cure. I am going to bake Holiday goods on order for holiday parties. Breads, Cakes, pies, cookies. All for the betterment of the holiday party and for the children who deserve to be well for Christmas. I always love having home baked goods at parties but so many people have little time, or cooking self esteem to make those wonderful gingerbread cookies, Challah, or Pecan pie. I love making them and have lots of time.

So spread the word my new meaningful job is to help make the holiday's a little brighter through what I know best, cooking.

So it's been a week

So its been a week since my last update. I don't know if I have a great track record in keeping these things up but here we go. I am going to try and write even just short, perhaps uninspiring updates each day...

Now What

I was raised with the idea that I could do anything I set my mind to. In school, teachers and guidance counselors always emphasised college tracks. That for every career there is a recognized track that WILL lead you to that career. The thing with me is that while I knew I wanted to go to college and I knew that I wanted to be wildly successful I of course had no clear idea of what exactly that meant.

Well I should take that back, there were the dreams of being a Doctor, architect, small business owner, etc. All careers with very clear tracks. However, very few guidance counselors guide people into nonprofit careers, into Youth workers, mentors, community developers. So while I bounced back and forth between the "predictable" I chose to learn about the world. Starting with a fortuitous trip to Israel/Palestine when I decided to find out why people are so driven by religion and why people are pulled into conflict.

So...after a BA and an MA, I know that conflict is fueled by so many things within a community. The biggest indicator of a coming and acting conflict is a community breaking down into sects, of social strains showing themselves by a breakdown in services, rights and laws. This is when I decided to work in Community development.

This concept of Community development is so vague though. How on earth do I begin to chose what to work on?

I guess part of my inability to chose is attached to my inability to realize that there will be no wrong choice. "That" as my aunt put it, "I'm not choosing my lifelong career."
Now that I read what I wrote, my life long career has been chosen,and that is To help people remember what it means to live in a positive fulfilling community. To guide through my practice and to listen and learn from all the great teachers around me.

So then, I guess, I am just looking for my next gig...

Job Search Day One: My Aunt's Unsolicited Advice

I have just finished a year in a great program called AmeriCorps NCCC as a Team Leader. Like all the quotes promise "the hardest job you will ever love" had tortured my body. It has also strengthened my resolve to "settle down" into a great non-profit job where I could use the skills I have learned (and practiced) in the great city of San Francisco.

My new state of unemployment started on November 17, so for those of you near a calendar, that was only a week ago. This being Thanksgiving week I was settling into a much deserved week of relaxation visiting my beautiful, hardworking Aunt's house in Los Angeles. Thanksgiving morning flew by with trips to the market for last minute vegetables and spices without a notice to my new unemployed state. Then somehow through the course of, well through the Appetizer and partly into the main course, several guests had pointed to the fact that about Thanksgiving every year, for the last three years, I am "between" opportunities. This year however I assured everyone that the new state was one of resolve to settle into a new apartment and job for at least the next 5 years.

My Aunt being a recovering lawyer and now a mediator and business owner, began a conversation which I quickly decided meant my restful week would not end so restfully. Talking me up to her friends, suggestions began to pour out of people's mouths almost as quickly as Thanksgiving dinner went in. By the time the meal had ended, coffee and the last slice of Apple pie been served, it had been decided that I should try Linked in. A new business networking site.

The next afternoon, what I would have loved to have kept perfectly peaceful by reading a book and practicing guitar, was arranged around the request for employment assistance sent on my Aunt's Linkedin page. I gasped when she told me of the 1.8 million people that would be reading about my desire for a meaningful job. This was a great relief and really exciting, but my body had just finished with one roller coaster and wasn't quite prepared to board a new ride. However, with my Aunt envisioning the ride I began a quick uphill climb that afternoon.

By Sunday, I have had exactly 5 posts on Linkedin in response to the request for assistance, 3-4 personal emails sent to my aunt then dutifully forwarded and one phone call. I feel like I am in a tidal wave of goodwill and Advice. The "Advice" I have yet to decide is good or even helpful.

Don't get me wrong the advice is good advice, look at the numerous websites that list nonprofit jobs, look for a career in development(i.e. fundraising), talk to this person or that person. All very good and very needed. I just think that a person who has been working a 24 hour job for the past 10 months should be due at least a week without advice about what she should do and should only receive praise for what she has done.

Accomplishments:

1. 1800 hours of direct community service hours
2. ushering one team of 10 to successfully complete the program
3. over 100 needs assessment interviews completed and filed in Lake Charles, LA
4. nearly 12 houses completely built from foundation to roof in Baton Rouge
5. nearly 500 volunteers lead during that 12 house build.
6. One outdoor classroom enhanced with benches, tables, species cards, and recycled art.
7. 80 Denver Area High school youth lead in the first summer youth Corps
8. 500 Kalamazoo area 5-6Th graders mentored on 4 simple principle character's Honesty, Caring, Respect, and Responsibility.
9. 35+ Weekly reports (including time sheets for the team) filed
10. 3 Project briefing packets
11. 3 project completion packets
12. 6 coordinated travel plans between projects and base
13. 3 budgets successfully balanced
14. How many hours of sleep lost? Perhaps too many.
15. How many hours of "this is where I was meant to be" moments? Soo many.

What a great year, what a hard year, what an amazing classroom. Thank you.
Now, I am ready to find my NEXT meaningful job.