Inertia - an old piece from my Wordpress blog.

Darkness, black as night, creeps silently.  Inertia she settles, yet she is not welcome here.  Fires of frustration threatening to engulf.  How can I continue forward, I can barely stay afloat.  There is a choice to be made, yet I struggle to decide.  My mind running off in circles, too far and too wide.  Wasted intelligence is the biggest fear, but I really am not meant to be here.  I feel the pull, the tug away from the direction which I felt I ought to take.  A risk to walk away, which I fear maybe too great.  The detriment of which, it may signal my demise.  The blood spilling from the clouds, it falls deep into the skin, saturating my brain, no longer wise.  I want to run, but I have no legs.  I want to scream, but there is no voice left within.  I am afraid I am turning into merely a shell.  Shadow of my being, I fall fast into hell.

Writing is my passion, the one thing I love.  The words on the page save me, like angels sent from above.  Inertia she sweeps, across my bare chest, leaving a heavy weight, leaden upon my breast.  Yet the writing continues to flow like blood from a fresh open wound.  The one thing I can always manage to do. Ironically inertia, and the darkness makes the craft which I hone so much easier to create.  Empty pages are my home.

A few little helpful CV writing tips

I have spent the morning trawling through job sites and constructing custom made CV's and cover letters for various available positions.
How draining and arduous this process is.  As a result I'm now feeling seriously depleted, and experiencing the kind of despair one does when they feel they are getting absolutely no where!

Why do I find this process so exhausting?

It is not due to the lack of opportunities, far from it, but because of my very limited experience in the direction that I hope to take.
Also my CV and previous work experience is somewhat eclectic.  I am a jack of all trades, and a master of none.  This fact alone presents the question of how to produce a custom-tailored CV for a particular area, which will actually be considered and taken seriously!

Oh it makes my head hurt!

And in my attempts to approach this task creatively, I feel myself tying myself up in complex knots ~ the kind which if made out of rope would make the Boy Scouts proud!

Thankfully in this modern age we have a thing called the internet - and even better than that ~ Google!  After a few moments of deep breathing exercises to induce a feeling of calm and serenity I redirected myself towards my favourite search engine in my quest to discover the very best tips and advice for constructing an effective and stand-out CV specifically for career changes.

Below I have created a little list of what I found to be the most helpful tips and advice which I have gathered from the plethora of information found on the web.

• Utilize the Job Description to help you construct and write your objective ~ This is a super effective way of customizing your CV to the position which you are applying for.  If the position calls for a certain area of expertise, be sure to mention any relevant experience you have in the opening paragraph ( no intricate detail required here, keep it short, snappy and to the point). It goes without saying that prospective employers will spend mere moments scanning each CV that crosses their path - make sure you can grab their attention.

• Become well-versed in the prospective industries terminology ~ This can be an arduous process, and may require speaking with people whom are already employed in the industry (which is not only useful in helping you grasp and understand the terminology, but it is also an excellent way to build connections).  It will ensure your CV is written in a language that is clear and understandable to your prospective employers!

• Focus upon skills and experience which are most relevant to the specific application ~ And get creative here, we use and learn many skills throughout our lives, even if your last position couldn't be more of a polar opposite to the direction you now wish to embark, there will more likely than not be skills which you utilized, which are super relevant and beneficial to your desired position that simply need presenting in a different way - rephrase them and use different wording in line with the industries wording.  Sometimes we overlook the blatantly obvious, and feel as though we may not possess the relevant skills because of the way in which they are worded in the job description.

• Remember to sell yourself! ~ A CV isn't simply a list of what experience and skills you possess, it is your sales pitch, don't just list what you can do, write it a way that truly highlights the unique qualities and skill set you have to offer.

• Keep it clear, succinct and to the point ~ now is not the time to waffle, digress or go off on tangents.  It is also not the time for generic cliches.

• Make sure to mention non-work related skills, interests and achievements which are relevant to the position you are applying for

• Most Importantly - Proof Read and spell check ~ even though it seems super obvious to make sure your CV is perfect in format, spelling and punctuation before you upload and press send, it can sometimes be an after thought - we are all fallible human-beings after all.  But if you are applying for a content writer position, and you state on your CV that your English and communication skills - specifically written - are second to none, you are not only going to feel foolish for submitting a CV which has little spelling and grammar mistakes.  Your prospective employer is also going to discarding your CV to the not suitable for this role pile, i.e ~ the bin. (I made this mistake earlier in my rush and excitement to apply - we make mistakes to learn!)

I hope this may be of some help!
Thank you for reading.

Peace and love

x


  References and web links
 http://uk.businessinsider.com/ideal-resume-for-someone-making-a-career-change-2014-9?r=US&IR=T
http://www.rd.com/advice/work-career/10-things-career-changers-need-on-their-resume/

The Seven Year Change over.

Most of us will be familiar with the phrase the seven-year itch ~ either from the Marilyn Monroe movie, or the reference to the psychological term which suggests that happiness in a marriage begins to decline around seven years in.

It is also suggested that our lives change every seven years, due to seven year cycles.

Now this is something that up until five minutes ago I had not been aware of as a thing.  I had been pondering what topic on which to construct my next post, and as I was perched on the counter-top in my kitchen, my mind began thinking about a pattern I had started to notice in relation to my own life.

Every seven years or so, the direction of the course of my life begins to shift.

This led me to wonder whether this was a universal phenomena, or whether it was simply coincidental to me that I decided to follow different directions every seven years.

So I did what most of us do when we have have a question ~ I googled it ( how wonderful it is to have a wealth of information at our finger-tips!).  And as it turns out, the seven year change theory is actually a thing!

On Innerself.com their article Cycles of Seven mentions that at the age of around 30 years old, there is a momentum which pulls us towards change, due to the suggestion that around this time 'we are still moving out of the Saturn return' which also suggests we may be feeling the desire for 'change and a new direction'.  If this is a topic of interest, head over to innerself.com and make sure to check out the article Cycles of Seven and Learning to Flow with the Cycles by June K. Burke (http://innerself.com/content/living/leisure-and-creativity/4516-cycles-of-seven.html).

My current mood and shift in attitude towards my current life situation and the motivation to change course is actually in alignment with the life cycles we all go through.  This provides some comfort to my fragile little mind and the chaos which is reigning supreme at present!  I'm actually amazed that I had not come across this concept before.  There are a plethora of articles and blogs written on this very subject!  And there was me thinking I had discovered something new.

Just under seven years ago I began my journey as a mother.  And now I have come to the end of my life's chapter as a student.  I can sense the ripples of important changes preparing to descend upon me.  And I am so very ready.  And so very scared!

Will this be the cycle of change where I actually give myself the kick up the ass I've been threatening myself with and actually follow through on my dreams of traversing the globe with my son indefinitely?  I fucking hope so!

Even if my physical location may not change for a little while longer yet (finances obviously!) there are significant changes occurring in the inner landscape of my being.  

What are your thoughts?  Have you noticed your life changing in accordance with the seven year cycles?  Or do you call bull-shit on the whole idea?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Peace and love

x

Tarot Cards

A few years ago, I happened to come across my older brother's tarot deck when I had been rooting around at my parent's house for an old book of mine that I had suddenly decided was important for me to find and re-read.

I came across the tarot cards and the search for the elusive book (whose title I can't even recall) was instantly forgotten.

I was fascinated by the intricate illustrations which adorned the cards, and I set out on a quest to discover as much as I could about tarot cards and how to read them.
Unfortunately (or not) I simply couldn't grasp the concepts, not did I feel any particular affinity with the particular deck, once the novelty had worn off.

I could simply not make sense of them.  In all honesty, I didn't fully believe that cards could predict a future which is not yet known, and most likely, I wasn't truly interested in being able to do so.
I lean more towards the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies ~ so if what the cards had predicted manifested itself, that was surely down to the fact that choices had been made which led to the outcome, which ultimately had been influenced by the reading.

I left the cards alone, and in time forgot I even had them.

Then, a few weeks ago I happened to come across the OSHO Zen Tarot.  I was instantly intrigued.  I had become interested in the late mystics concepts a few years earlier, and had read a few of Osho's books when I first ventured down the path of meditation practice and yoga.

And what a find this Tarot deck turned out to be.

Due to the Zen nature, these cards are not about predicting the future, they are focused upon the present, the here/now.

From the very first reading I did with these cards, I felt they were showing me what I was already aware of.  Each reading has made perfect sense in line with whatever my current circumstances were.

Now, of course, I am fully aware that we will see what we want to see, and in a similar way to astrology readings, things will be interpreted in numerous ways dependent upon the reader.  But for those of us whom choose to believe in the subconscious and the mystical, those things which can not really be explained by thinking about them at an intellectual level ~ this Tarot deck is a fantastic vehicle for tapping into our inner world.

In a way, they can provide reassurance and confirmation for what we may already be aware of.

With anything of this kind, I think the outcomes we experience are completely dependent upon ourselves and our interpretations ~ but for me, these Tarot cards have added a positive influence to my life, and are also providing me with plentiful things upon which to meditate.

A useful tool to deepen our understanding of ourselves.

Or simply a wonderful game to play...  Life is not as serious as we make it out to be

Peace and love

x

Pretense is Exhausting

I am totally lost.  I am not afraid, nor am I ashamed to admit that I have no idea what I am doing.
I'm already in my early thirties, and some may say I should have my act together by now (whatever the hell that means).

Actually, if I'm honest, it's not so much that I am lost - I'm only lost in my attempts to find my fit within the societal standards which are on offer.

I am a self-proclaimed mis-fit.

I do not fit neatly into a categorical box.  And neither do you.  None of us do.

Some of us question this though.  We fail time and time again in our attempts to blend the way countless others appear to do seamlessly.

Then we realise we don't want to blend.
We don't need to fit in.

I do not want to fit in, or blend, or settle for a life in which I repeat the same routine for x-amount of years.
I have never wanted that.

I think if we are honest, none of us want that.

Yet fear can hold us back.
Right now I am on the cusp of embarking on a whole new beginning.  But I am terrified of taking that initial leap.

I have literally spent entire days with continuous tears falling from my mascara smudged eyes.  In a turmoil of which step to take next.  Feeling positive and full of possibilities and ideas one minute, to a crumbling, self-doubting tearful mess the next.

When I explore this elation/despair paradox more closely, I begin to understand that the despair I feel is mostly due to the realisation that I am more afraid not to try than to fail, but a tricky little sod called self-confidence is still needing some persuasion to come out of her corner and fake it with me for a little while, just enough so I can get my feet through the proverbial door.

Because it takes courage to truly be yourself in a society that wants its people to be homogeneous sheep.

When I look around at all the beautiful and unique individuals whom have embraced themselves completely and said a very firm

"Fuck you"

to societal ideals and molds, I feel inspired, and also more driven to uncover my own light, my own truth and embrace myself and live in accordance with my own self, unapologetically.

We have to make the choice to live our lives according to how we see fit.  There is nobody who can do it for us.

From this moment forth I vow to not compromise myself in order to fit it.

I vow to not allow fear of rejection to dictate how I will spend my days.

Because the pretense and the performing is too fucking exhausting.

So much energy wasted to be left questioning ourselves in the bathroom mirror every night, between brushing our teeth and climbing into bed, with the words - "who exactly am I living for?"

When we feel this way we have an honor to ourselves to do something about it!

From this point forward I am living for me.

And most importantly, I'm gonna' stop taking life so bloody seriously.

Peace and light x

Fiery Aries (Art work)

Fire sign babe. 2016

This too Shall Pass...

No matter how happy and content we feel in our present life circumstances, it is always important to keep in mind that the phrase;

This too shall pass

Is not only applicable to the painful and unpleasant moments in life.

It is applicable to all moments in life.

If we could all absorb the concept that nothing whatsoever is concrete and certain, then maybe we would be able to free ourselves and live more fully.

Stop the clinging - you can't take any of it with you when you go.