Getting there from here - Find your ham

When I was growing up, back in the blissfully self-indulgent '80s, I got the message that I could be anything I wanted to be and in doing so I would happy, have enough money and life would be good. What I did not comprehend at that time was what some choices would mean in my life.

I chose the non- profit sector as my career path because I wanted a mission centered career. In the early years of my husband's "leap of faith" into full time writing, my salary in the sector was enough. Three kids later and I need more money and less stress in my career. And my career should be fulfilling. And I should be able to balance a million other factors at the same time. And survive in Los Angeles without a Los Angeles' sized salary. And did I mention the economy tanked somewhere in the midst of all of this? Egads.

In the last year since I officially lost my job title in this world, I've had to learn a lot. While I still believe that the best way to success is to follow your passion and dreams, I've also become aware that there's not a road map for this process that works given the current economy. The world is a changing place. With each month I've been off work, I've had to explore new strategies and reconfigure my plan. Sometimes I think I'm going to lose my mind over the stress of it all.

Platitudes of career search

• Do what you love and the money will follow
• Follow your dreams
• Focus on your true passion
• You can be anything you want to be

For me, trying to focus on what I want and need at this time has been tricky. It's easy to say "I'll take whatever job is available," the that's not always the best plan. Desperation can lead to bad choices. But in the middle of all this I've learned that leaps of faith involve very tough parts in the middle. I've struggled to stay true to who I am, the needs of my family and a changing marketplace for careers.

This year we tried a couple different tactics which seem to be working.
Bill actually stopped the treadmill of trying to get gigs (since it was pretty clear there were none) and started writing original content again (scripts and novels). He is now shopping those around and using them as samples to get work. His first novel is in the hands of his publisher now and should be going out into the world anytime now.


I’m living life more one day at a time these days. I had to become open minded and patient to figure out what to do with my career at this time. That is tough to do. I pretty much shook out the tool kit and started playing with each tool to see where else it might fit in the economy puzzle. I spent a lot of time this year on self improvement and research which will hopefully set me up for more success now as I proceed.

What I put out to the universe about what I need from my next job:

Work from home ( the most important factor for me)
Leverage my skills
Justify staying in LA

For me, learning to state what I wanted and needed from my career was really rough. It is easy to say "I'll take anything," but I've learned that is not true for me. Unless we're talking about a lot of money, just earning a paycheck is not enough for me. Never has been and never will be. But money is one of those necessary evils in life. Feeling dejected and unwanted after being laid-off, it was easy for me to lose sight of who I am now professionally, what I want next for my career and how to get there from here. Intuitively, I know what I need to do, but the chatter of the world and all the pressures on me at this time make it hard to listen to what I know is true- patience and determination will prevail in the end.