Free(lance) fallin'

I've always been a worker. Since I was old enough to understand that money makes the world go round (as does love, but love cannot buy you round trip tickets to Bora Bora), Ive tried my hardest to make as much as possible. As such, even with a 9-5er, I like to work on the side. Ideally, I'd like to bar tend a night or two a week but I don't want to throw my sleep schedule that out of whack.

So, I write freelance. This is kills two birds with one stone 1.) I make extra cash - not exactly a goldmine but it's something I'm good at and can do with minimal effort 2.)It gives me something to fill up my portfolio with besides aged clippings from my college newspaper. Keeps it fresh as it were.

One of the best tips I've ever received, from numerous sources, is to work for free. This may not make sense coming right after a paragraph where I profess my love of money. But when you're green under the gills, it can be difficult to get clients to pay you for work. They don't know what you can do. So, this post titled the "upside of working for free" has several good tips and justifications for working pro bono.

Once you've worked for free for a bit, you'll have more experience and samples and will be able to snag the freelance jobs that you want (and need!) and Bora Bora will be only a hop-skip and a few 1000-word articles away!

"Welcome to the real world...

Yesterday, my HR Manager left on her 5 year anniversary trip. Where are these lovebirds going? Ohh...a little jaunt through London and Paris, nothing major. Hah.

I have the lust. The wanderlust. I've got it real bad.

My favorite trip was to Spain in Jan. 2007. I went on my own for 3 weeks. I stayed with a friend for a little while (only she and her sister spoke English). Then I flew to Barcelona by myself. Whenever someone asks me what my most memorable moment is I always say "Flying into Barcelona." Hands down.

I left for BCN when it was still dark so when I was arriving, the sun was in that early morning, hazy phase. We circled out over the ocean and I was on the perfect side of the plane. The Gaudi-inspired buildings were lit up with a rose light that took my breath away. I was so distracted and awestruck, it didn't occur to me to take a picture!

*sigh*

Being out of my element is always so inspiring. I write so well when I'm traveling. I love exploring new streets and wandering around aimlessly. I'm not a sightseer or a tourist - I'm a traveler. I like to assimilate with the culture and eat in the shady hole-in-the wall places and try fried crickets and where the crazy clothes that locals wear.

I need to find a job that pays be a ton of money and allows me to work only half the year so I can travel the other half. OR better yet, a job that sends me all over the world.

So...as my colleague said to me when I complained about this "Welcome to the real world"

I replied "...it sucks...you're gonna love it." (Thnx Ms. Mac and Friends)

Miss Mac

I've come to find out, that working for someone else, ie. being an assistant, you have to possess the unearthly powers of mind reading. Miss Cleo, I am not.

At my former position, my CEO even had the balls to tell me that "I have to learn to read his mind." Creepy, yes. Doable, no.

While I do have great intutition, I certainly cannot read minds. Thus, you can imagine my confusion when a new email pops up and it's written like a password to get into something private or a Candadian zip code. Throughout the whole day, I've had to decipher blackberry messages with limited information and try my best to figure out what the hell they mean.

This occurence isn't just today. No, no...since almost a year ago, I've had to read someone's mind all too often. It also doesn't help that she doesn't clue me into what she's working on and then expects me to jump in at the last minute and help her figure out something. Or do the bitch work when she's too busy playing with her baby to do.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for having a career and having a kid, but there's a balancing act, and a time when more things should be loaded on to your assistant so she's not in her cubicle twiddling her thumbs and making up more than 1/2 of her Top 10 List.

But reading minds, if I could...I sure as hell wouldn't be HERE.

Let me stand next to your fire

What drives you? Have you forgotton? I know I have. That little voice inside my head is all too often ignored in the face of necessity, buried under a to-do list with a millions things on it.

My goal for this year is to rediscover my passion. I want to feel again and create. I miss the feeling of clay between my fingers, the click of a 35 mm camera and the grittiness of charcoal under my nails.

"What keeps you going isn't some fine destination but just the road you're on, and the fact that you know how to drive." - Barbara Kingsolver

All signs point to...

I've had a few signs tell me it's time to move on from my current position as a Publicist in Upstate, NY. First, the internal offer from one of my colleagues to pass my resume around to his bevy of contacts (one of whom include the NY Mets!!!). The other is my trusty sidekick, B, who sent me a few job postings, which in turn led me to a website with an almost perfect job...if a million others weren't applying for it as well.

I also had a dream I was pregnant a few nights ago, which, according to B, means something new is developing (not necessarily an actual child within).

Albeit, I've felt I have short-changed myself with my current position. I did get a great deal of experience dealing with a tiger who changes its spots VERY frequently, but I also gained experience working in an actual office environment and doing office duties which are great things to know. However, I wasn't challenged enough creatively and I feel like I lost my focus of what I really want to do...or I'm still paying my dues at 25.

Either way, it's time for me to move on to greater pastures. And all the signs say, the timing is right.

Passion.

Being new to marketing makes understanding what exactly marketing is difficult. I know that I was born to meet people. I always thought, with my passion for writing, that it would be to write about them. Now as a marketing professional, I realize it's to know and network with them.