LOOK AT ME. I’M DRIVING A FERRARI!

Well I finally did it. I‘ve moved from a regular website to a blogsite and it has certainly stirred me up.

When my colleague, brilliant writer, & Soulo member  Tamela Rich did the same thing some time ago she commented that she felt like an Amish woman who had just been given a Ferrari. And wow, she was so right. I feel like I have gone from a quiet comfortable place to live (a regular website) into an alternative universe – blogging– and I am not sure I can fit in here. I’m sure for many people this would be a ho hum experience but for a “technologically disadvantaged’ person like me, it is a big step.

Lessons Learned

I learned a lot about myself during this move, most of which gives me more empathy for what my clients in transition face. Like many clients who want to make a shift in their lives, I both loved and feared the move to a blogsite. I loved the idea of the possibilities of blogging  but when confronted with the reality of what I need to do, all my fears and insecurities come swirling up like ghosts at Halloween.

Can I really learn how to do this? Will it be worth the time & money? Will anyone read it anyway?  On and on and on. I scare myself with old fears and made up monsters. By the time I am finished with my “haunted house” I want to hide under the bed & never come out.

But of course, I finally have to emerge and look around.

How ironic that I teach others how to calm their fears but let the monsters get to me. I am just like everyone else…I scare myself with “what ifs”. It certainly gives me more insight into what fear can do and how energy sucking it can be. I know that this is not a life-threatening situation but it is amazing how invasive it becomes.

When I get a little perspective on it, I realize that these “fear ghosts” are what we all feel when we take a risk or move away from our comfort zones.

Since we often teach what we need to learn, I realized I need to apply that to myself. So I talk to myself just like I do my clients (glad no one can hear me!) to remember that I have learned many other things in my life, that I have what I tell others they need — a great support team in Tamela & Andy  Ciordia (the blog tech guru) of Nuance Labs Consulting  and that I will love getting comments from people. When I focus on these things, it really helps. I’m not driving much yet but I am in the car.

And I think I really look good in a Ferrari.

Join Me At Bucket Brigade

THE BUCKET BRIGADE

If you haven’t been laid off, downsized or fired recently, you probably not have been working. The experience of this dramatic change has become commonplace but the emotional toll it takes is not one we talk much about but it is very real. It is very stressful takes a huge toll on our health, mentally and physically.

I know what it feels like because it has happened to me in a very dramatic way. Some years ago while living in CA, I was recruited for a great job in NC. It seemed like a good time to get closer to family and my roots so I packed up & moved across the country. I had only been here for about 2 months when I was laid off. I was devastated; I had no contacts here and couldn’t even find my way around. Money was tight as I got no severance, was not eligible e for unemployment & had spent a lot to get my house in CA ready to rent. It was an emotionally difficult time, to say the least.

Eventually I did come out of it but I never forgot how I felt and how hard it was to deal with the emotional toll. I looked for information on the emotions of job loss/job search but could not find much that was helpful. So I began to put together a “talk” on coping with that experience and to speak to job support groups several times a year. I always had people come up to me after the talks and tell me I should write on this as so many people needed to hear it.

Last winter I meet an amazing Presbyterian Chaplin, Rev.Elizabeth Hyland.She was creating a series of seminars to support people who were unemployed and asked me to be one of the speakers. The seminars were about giving people an emotional boost and they have been very helpful and uplifting for attendees as well as speakers.

But I began to realize that people need a regular place to come to get that boost and to get & give support. So the idea of a regular, drop –in support group was born.

The idea of a “Bucket Brigade” comes from practice of a community coming together to help fill a bucket and then pass it on. So this seemed a perfect name for creating a support group where we could fill our own & each other’s “well- being” bucket. So in Nov. we started and it is going strong.

We share with each other and talk about some simple, easy ways we can take good care of ourselves.

I always leave feeling uplifted and truly honored be in the “Bucket line” with such amazing people. I know you will find this true for you too.

So whatever your life situation is, you can come to a safe and uplifting place to get “filled up” and pass it on.

• First & Third Wednesdays
• 10:30-11:30
• Julia’s Coffee (upstairs)
• 1133 N. Wendover Rd, Charlotte, NC