Skills are cheap, passion is priceless

You want to change jobs? Start a blog? Write, dance, exercise, sing or play more? Make wine videos to educate the masses? Skills are cheap…and overrated. You probably have all the skills you need already. So face those obstacles and fears head-on and MAKE room for what you really care about in your life. Know that it won’t always be easy, nor is it supposed to be. Get out there anyway. Step fully into what you want and crush it. We’re waiting for you.

From: http://www.lifeaftercollege.org/blog/2009/09/29/skills-are-cheap-passion-is-priceless/

A new beginning

It’s official. I have a move-in date for my new home!

Matt and I will be moving into our new apartment near Lenox on April 17, and I couldn’t be more excited.

My commute should be immensely better. I’ll get to see my boyfriend every day. I won’t have to pack up and travel most weekends. And I’ll get to use my stemless wine glasses again.

The amount of time I save from my commute should add up to at least an extra hour every day. And that’s a big deal when I only have about two hours of time to get things done, aside from my day job.

In that time, other than relaxing, I have some projects I want to start working on that I think will be helpful in the long-term. Some include beginning to expand Thrifty Threads, starting a new blog about recycling/environmentalism and trying to do good in the world as an average (somewhat poor) person (I know this sounds boring, but I’m going to try to make it entertaining.), and looking for other outlets to put my skills to use.

My intentions are to gain experience in this realm so that, someday, I can genuinely work for myself.

As far as moving, I’m very eager to decorate the new apartment. I’m still trying to decide on colors, and I probably won’t completely make any decisions until after the move, but it’s still fun to plan.

It’s all very exciting, and I find myself a lot happier than I used to be. I’m sure the beautiful spring weather doesn’t hurt any, either.

baby steps to baby footprints

I’ve always been into the environment. Spending time outdoors. Preserving natural surroundings. Reducing litter. Recycling.

Lately I’ve become more committed to reducing my footprint on the environment.

All through college, my roommate and I separated our trash from recyclables and either trekked them down the hall (freshman year) or drove them to county recycling drop offs (the other three years).

I even started grocery shopping with reusable bags.

My ultimate goal is to eliminate sending anything to the landfill. While I realize this is not really practical in our society, I can do my best to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Unfortunately, many organic and low-impact products are expensive, and I’m not made of money. But if I can’t afford to buy the products exclusively, I can at least focus on products sold in containers made from recycled materials and that are recyclable themselves.

When I eventually move, I want to set up a system for my recyclables (and even for No. 5 plastics – I read somewhere that some Whole Foods have drop-off points for them). I also want to focus on biodegradable trash bags for non-recyclable waste. Do you have any idea how long plastic takes to decompose?

And one day I would like to compost as way to get rid of food products that will biodegrade perfectly on their own.

I realize I may sound like a crazy person. But these are little things I can do that have little impact on my day-to-day life. I’m not giving up showering, selling my car or moving to a commune (at least not yet). I’m just trying to be more mindful of my personal impact.

Just a few things making me happy lately

First time I’ve built a real snow man since I was too young to remember. Snow in Georgia can be fun.

Valentine’s breakfast prepared by the most wonderful boyfriend. And he even sat through Julie & Julia.

Painting and wine at Sips n Strokes with a good friend. Perfect way to unwind after a long day at work.

Three Little Birds

I began this blog as a way to keep track of my “transitory” period. This time between college and joining the real adult world. Nobody really prepares you for how difficult this time is – especially given the economic state we’ve found ourselves in.

I’m still in transition. Working full-time, Monday through Friday 9-6, commuting an average of one hour each direction. Living at home with my parents.

Lots of ups and downs. Some days are better than others.

Some days I really miss college – my apartment, my lifestyle, my friends, Athens. (Today is one of those days.)

Some days I feel like I can’t take this anymore. Working an office job, the commute, very little social life. Almost no free time during the week.

Some days I remember that I’m still young and don’t currently have bills to worry about. And sometimes I want to run off and see the world for a few years.

It’s difficult not to get run down by the daily grind. I just have to keep telling myself everything will be alright. Repeat after me: Everything will be alright.

Little Pet Peeves

Over the last few months, I have experience many annoyances – things that just got under my skin at the wrong time. I try to remain calm and not let things get to me, but here are my most recent top five pet peeves anyway:

1. Not using blinkers during rush hour traffic. And bad drivers in general.
2. Slow clocks leading me to believe I’m on time, only to find out I’m actually running late.
3. Bad grammar, and general violations of AP Style.
4. Talking on the phone in the restroom, especially a public restroom.
5. When people won’t take their own calls, and make someone else run back and forth asking questions.

On the horizon

In the next few days (beginning of February), I will officially have been living at home for six months.

That’s quite a milestone.

While there have been lots of ups and downs, all in all, it hasn’t been terrible. But that doesn’t mean I’m not eager for things to change.

I knew the New Year wouldn’t bring miraculous change, but things are – slowly but surely – beginning to come together.

I’m starting to plan moving out, which is very exciting.

I’ve also been getting design work from some random places: a couple of friends starting businesses, a contest I plan to enter and I might get to do a little designing at my full-time job.

So maybe I don’t know what I want out of a career and where I want to be in 10 years. But, really, who my age does?

What I do know is I’m tired of feeling like my life is on hold. I still may act old sometimes, but I’m ready to feel my age again – rather than twice it or half it (I tend to alternate between the two while at home).

There should be a class for this

Since entering the “real world,” I have noticed quite a few things I’m expected to know how to do/handle. Problem is, I was never given any instruction on these.

Tax forms. Anytime you start a new job, the first thing you’re subjected to is trying to get through a stack of forms. One of these is the W-4. Having held quite a few jobs through the years, I still have no idea what to write on this form, and I’m becoming convinced no one else actually does either. Do I claim myself or no one? Ahh!

Insurance. If you’re lucky enough to work for a company that offers insurance plans at a discounted price, you may have two or three plans to choose from. How do you know what you need? What does all that jargon even mean? Deductible, huh? (I finally got my mom to sit down explain what a deductible is recently. I kind of get it now.)

Stock options. A few months ago, I received a confusing packet in the mail. There was a lot of legally binding jargon. I knew it was something about stock, but I was clueless. I gave the packet to my mom to look over and translate for me. What it came down to, she said, was my company was giving me one share of stock. All I had to do was sign the form and return it. At this point, though, it’s been so long that it doesn’t seem worthwhile. Live and learn.

Some of these I’ve become familiar with in the past, but not nearly enough to swim on my own. So what are my takeaway points from these experiences so far?

1. Why were these types of administrative subjects never taught or explained in any class?
2. Thanks goodness for parents.

Location-independent vs. Stability

Lately I’ve noticed a lot of buzz (on many of the post-grad, figuring out your career blogs I read) about location-independent jobs. I have mixed feelings about this.

At first glance, it sounds like a great idea: set my own hours, autonomy, opportunity to do something I truly enjoy.

But I also have to consider: Setting my own hours would mean I wouldn’t be able to “leave for the day,” and I probably wouldn’t get paid while on vacation (though, theoretically, I could do some work then); Work wouldn’t necessarily always be available, and sometimes there might even be too much to process; I like not having to worry about having health/dental/eye insurance.

It’s a tough call, but something I might be interested in trying at some point. I would absolutely love the flexibility of the scheduling though. Something I really miss the the ability to be out and about during the day.

Since lately I’ve been thinking so much about my career, I made a list of paths I may be interested in pursuing:

• Graphic design (advertising/marketing): This would give me more of a change for the location-indie lifestyle. But it also could mean for a company in a regular hour position.
• News/magazine design: Not newspapers, though, for obvious reasons (unless it was strictly graphic design and I didn’t have to work evenings/weekends).
• Social media: This also has many possibilities. I prefer either a nonprofit or a good company I believe in.
• Somehow working with environmentalism: This is an issue I have a strong interest in and could include social media, graphic design, or something else.
• Teaching: This is still a possibility, but probably not until later down the road. I’m mostly interested in it for the “giving back” aspect, school holidays, I do usually like being around kids, and it would be stable.

In the meantime, I’m just trying to be happy and continue working on side projects that hopefully will begin to lead me in the right direction.