Taking Flight and Spreading My Wings

Crazy as it may sound...this week I felt like taking flight and spreading my wings. I am getting very involved now in historic preservation as things are starting to heat up a little with one site in Darby. I am happy to help the historic commission there because I am learning so much. Yet I know that I have to come down sometime.

It's just that it is so hard to come down off the mountain where you can see forever to go back down to the dregs of society where you've been wallowing for a long time. I have to admit that I've felt more alive these past two years than I've felt in a long time. Maybe that's crazy too...because I've been struggling to find work for that long. I look at the scene here...not taken by me...of the mountains "Petty Jean" in Arkansas...and feel a peace about the situation I'm in. I know that it's not an ideal situation at all. Yet as crazy as it sounds, I feel that the Lord is guiding me to make the connections and do the work he assigned me to do.

My eyes have been opened to the plight of those around me. I see their pain every day. Yet I have hope that someday I will stand with my Lord.

Gaining a New Purpose in Life One Step at A Time

My week away from the computer was hard at first. I did find myself itching to get on-line last Monday but managed to curb the temptation. It is amazing how much you can learn by just opening yourself to the world around you and not burying yourself in the computer. You should try it sometime. I know some things are very difficult to do without getting on the Internet. Fortunately there are still some wonderful things you can do without the benefit or distraction of the computer. We have gotten away from doing things hands-on. That's a shame. The Internet should only be a tool, not a way of life. It shouldn't dictate how you live or what you say. Unfortunately this is true for so many of us nowadays. We get so absorbed in the social media we get 24/7 from the Internet that we barely talk to one another anymore. That too is a shame.

We do need to start fighting back and take back our lives from the overwhelming influences of social media in our lives. We need to put down our iPhones, our iPads, our tablets and other electronic devices that seemingly rule our lives and start living. It is becoming scarily obvious if we don't start doing this now, we'll become what George Orwell predicted in the book "1984"....

I don't know about you. As for me...I really don't like being monitored 24/7 and worrying about what others may think of me on-line. I do tend to try to keep my profile private. To some, I am considered a "Luddite" which as some may or may not know is someone who shuns modern technology. Yes, I admit that there are some things that I don't do on-line. I like paper. I like to be able to hold and see things. It gives me a sense of permanency to feel the paper in my hands, and a sense of control that I don't have on the computer. Of course, as all of you know, this is creating havoc with my ongoing job search with everything being on-line and companies longing for you to expose yourself regularly.

I have gained a new purpose in my life. I am going to start by job hunting the old fashioned way...by writing letters and calling people on the phone. It will be hard at first to get anyone's attention...so it will be a kind of experiment to see what kind of reaction I do get by doing this. I will only use the computer (Internet) to look up names and addresses and to check on the company's website for job openings. I will keep you posted from time to time as things develop...It should be interesting to say the least.

Too many avenues to cross-Time to get away and reflect

Yep....this definitely looks inviting. Frankly I am finding that I'm slowly burning out as I continue to search for that elusive job....You know the one. You probably are searching too. It is not easy to work your way towards what seems like an elusive goal knowing that soon enough time will run out. I am finding myself being dragged into working for nothing just so I can prove that I haven't been sitting on my hands while my savings dwindle down to nothing.

I do have options. Some of them will completely ruin my health (retail jobs) and others that will require a lot of hard work for little or no payment. I know for certain that I don't want to go back to the "cage" of the corporate world which no one has any power but to keep your head down and do the work until you are laid off. I am not the same person I was over 2 years ago when I was laid off. I have grown so much in the past 2 years as a person that it would be difficult but not impossible to go back to that setting. I have tried it once for a month. I hated it.

I know that everyone is pressing me to take anything...yet I am torn. Is it worth ruining my health just to have money coming in? What about my commitments to see my venture through to the bitter end? How about the responsibilities I now have to the community? There are too many avenues to cross. I do feel like I'm being pulled in thousand different directions. It is time for me to get away and reflect on what my next steps will be for my life.