Wish you were here
I have decided to build my life around those words “wish you were here”. I don’t travel much. I’ve never had the urge to go from city to city, country to country. I’ve just always had the urge to slowly explore; to sit on a park bench and watch the locals interact with one another. I want to taste the local cuisine and then have one of them teach me how to cook it. I want to find spots where I can be alone – where I can just lean against a really old tree or sit in the door frame of a castle for a while. Most of all, I want to send postcards to...
Read MoreLessons learned from unemployment
Late one evening in June, after a huge workout, a large meal and one heck of an awesome day spent with my sister, I was packing up my stuff to head home to crash for the night. Work had been insanely busy due to a project that involved some major tax changes and I needed a good night’s sleep to make sure I’d be in good shape to work on that in the morning. And that’s when I checked my Blackberry and saw a message from the company CEO. I’d just been laid off by email. I didn’t have a job to go to in the morning. I’ve never been unemployed unless I...
Read More…of the day: Live tomorrow, live today
A former colleague of mine once told me that he walked to work each day for an hour each way, during the winter. It was during the bus strike so I asked him why he didn’t find a ride with someone instead of walking. He said that he just needed to know if he could do it. What a beautiful display of character.. he just wanted to know if he could do it. How often do we do that? How often do we just opt for what’s easy instead? I’ve learned a lot in the past little while. Life can be easy but easy isn’t rewarding. Sure, I wish I hadn’t gone through what...
Read MoreSelf-destruct in five, four, three…
A fairly new friend of mine came over to hang out with me last week. It’s been incredibly difficult to be a part of life but not be able to immerse myself in it just yet. I’m still in a world of pain and though I don’t mind wearing a smile for a few hours if it means being able to socialize, I just want to read or watch films or lay still most of the time. That’s all. Socializing is exhausting because the truth is, no matter how much you adore the person, there’s a little something in you that still says “do your hair, put on your bra, pretend it...
Read MoreDude, I don’t work for free
I don’t work for free. On the rare occasion, if I believe in the product or the person, I might write a review for free. Or I might help a non-profit with checking for spelling and grammatical errors on their website. Every now and then, I don’t mind doing a bit of unpaid work if I believe in the cause. My high school art teacher once told me, “Julie, never work for free. Never, ever do unpaid work.” When I asked her why, she said that eventually, people would either take advantage of my work or take my contributions for granted. It’s one of the most...
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