A Year of Gratitude - Day Two Hundred Ninety-nine

Day 299 - Unexpected Talent

I had coffee today with an energetic young man who presents himself as a resource to job seekers on self branding and how to create a personal marketing plan for your job search.  I have to admit a small amount of skepticism - he seems so young - what could he present that I haven’t already seen?  I’ve run across numerous blogs by recent college graduates spouting their “latest tips” and earth-shattering revelations that turn out to be the same stuff I learned a long time ago; I expected this to be a similar experience.

I’m happy to say I was completely wrong.  Allen not only understands marketing inside and out, but he has the best “Interview Kit” I have ever seen.  Think of it as a marketing kit (a folder with your organization’s collateral information - brochures, etc.) for your own personal brand, what you offer (a potential employer) and where you stand in your market.  I was blown away.

I’m glad he put me in my place (though I hope he didn’t realize I had walked in with some erroneous assumptions).  It reminded me that age, experience and other chronologically-oriented factors rarely have anything to do with talent.  It was my own re-entry into reality and I felt enriched by our conversation.

A Year of Gratitude - Day Two Hundred Ninety-eight

Day 298 - Release

I gave away my piano today.

In my ongoing effort to downsize and simplify, I realized that, as much as I want music in my life, I’m somewhat burdened by owning something as large as this piano is.  I haven’t been using it the way I had anticipated, either, and I felt perhaps someone else may enjoy it even more than I.  It was time to let it go.

When I received it nearly three years ago, I did some research on it.  I discovered that it was made in 1917, and is Jesse French & Sons’ top-of-the-line instrument meant to compete with the finest pianos made by Steinway and other American makers.  It was marketed as a piano for the serious musician’s home, and included features only found on concert grands.  This piano is likely rare.

Mom offered to do a needlepoint cover for the bench I purchased, reminiscent of the one she did for the piano we had growing up.  Since it was made during the Art Nouveau period, I found a design by a Scottish designer of the period, and transfered it to the needlepoint canvas.  Mom spent a minimum of one hour every day for six months to complete the cover, and it looks exquisite on the bench.  I was delighted.

Needless to say, the bench did not go with the piano today.  I will keep the bench, as I feel 300 pounds lighter without the piano.  I am no longer bound to find a home on the ground floor, or in a building with a large enough service elevator to accommodate it.  I can find another piano someday that will suit my needs.

It is continually interesting to me how easy it can be to let go - to release my previous ideas and priorities - to be open to what is coming next.  I’m happy to say I’m in a place where I can.

A Year of Gratitude - Day Two Hundred Ninety-seven

Day 297 - Long Term Effects

I had a chance to meet again with my fifth grade teacher, Joe Hauseman, of whom I’ve written before.  He told me that his son has decided to follow in his footsteps and become a teacher, and he shared a letter I had written to him when I “found” him again, and told him of the profound impact he had on the rest of my life.  He shared my thoughts, along with many other letters he has received over the years, with his son to impress upon him that teachers make a difference.  Joe definitely made a difference in mine, and I will be eternally grateful for it.

I hope in some small way, I will have a similar long-term effect on the participants of my job seeker’s group, as well as other friends and colleagues along the way.  This isn’t to stroke my own ego so much as “Making a Difference” has become my greatest aspiration, and to have even half the impact on others that Joe had on me will mean I succeeded.  Even more, I will have succeeded in a life that has felt so much like a failure.

A Year of Gratitude - Day Two Hundred Ninety-six

Day 296 - Learning the Ropes

I had a chance to sit down with a master networker today - Rodger Cook - to learn how to create and manage a LinkedIn Group.  It is fun to learn a new skill, especially one that can lead to more.  I’m excited about the possibilities this knowledge may engender, and glad to have had Rodger’s support this morning.  Plus, he’s a great guy, and the conversation is always uplifting.

The byproduct was the creation of a group that I can either hand off to someone else to lead, or to use if the job comes through and I have the chance to lead the group myself.  We’ll see....

Anticipation....

A Year of Gratitude - Day Two Hundred Ninety-five

Day 295 - Longing

Ignacio will begin a two-week trip to his native Venezuela tomorrow morning, and as I wished him “Boy voyage” tonight, I had an immediate sense of longing.  We speak every day, and I know this won’t be possible while he travels.  We will have email and Twitter, but we won’t be able to have a conversation.  I miss him already.

I’m not totally destroyed, however; like the feeling of loneliness I've discussed before, this feeling reminds me that I am capable of love.  Regardless of what has happened in my past, I have not lost the ability to love another.  I consider myself very fortunate - too many people have, and I am very lucky to have people in my life with whom I get to practice these profound feelings.  Yes, lucky indeed.

A Year of Gratitude - Day Two Hundred Ninety-four

Day 294 - Laughing at (Near) Failure

I decided I’d try something new last night: Chiles Rellenos.  Mom had me pick up a couple fresh Anaheim chiles at the store, and found a recipe that looked like it ought to create what we’ve had at various Mexican restaurants.  I’ve only done casseroles using some of the same ingredients, but we decided to try something more authentic.

To make a long story short, what we created looked very little like what we’ve been served.  It took both of us to get them into the pan - I had over-cooked the chiles, which then fell apart once they were stuffed with cheese - there was no way we could simply coat the chiles in the batter and drop them into the hot oil.  As we were placing them into the pan, we were both laughing so hard that I was afraid of dropping the whole meal on the floor.

The end result was adequate, though nothing close to success, even on taste.  The lesson: we enjoyed the meal because of the experience, not the product.  

I was thinking on this a lot today as I took a few more things to Goodwill - mainly some clothes I knew I’d never wear again - and made more room in my storage unit.  I have accumulated a lot of “stuff” which all brings back memories.  Having the items is less important that remembering the experiences associated with them.  I can laugh about the stories they tell me, and let them go.

A Year of Gratitude - Day Two Hundred Ninety-three

Day 293 - Beards

With the improvement of my attitude on life, I have an increased sense of energy for focusing my energies on new projects.  There have been the dark days when I wanted fewer hours of the day to endure; now I feel time whizzing by, unable to keep up.

I have begun my own small effort to promote beards.  Too often, and in far too many environments, I’ve heard people say they don’t like them.  A couple years ago, I received a lead on a job at a hotel from a colleague who had worked for the hiring manager in the past.  Since I had gone back to my beard by that time, I asked him if he felt I ought to shave first.  “Are you kidding?!” he blurted out emphatically.  “Of COURSE you should shave!  Beards are so unprofessional!  I can’t believe you even asked.”

I was taken aback; I consider myself adequately sensitive to both fashion and business sense, and the thought that a beard was unprofessional had never crossed my mind.  Maybe beards aren’t “conservative” anymore, and I recognize that hotels often want to take a more conservative approach to their image, but his reaction really surprised me.  

In the two years since this conversation, I’ve heard of many companies - including both Hilton and Marriott (bastions of conservative hospitality) - now allow neatly groomed facial hair, though leaving it to the discretion of local general managers (management companies may have their own rules for franchise hotels).  I read today that even Disney - the infinitely conservative company with a grooming code so strict you could get fired for violating it - has announced it is allowing whiskers (within reason, naturally).

It used to be that all men of stature - presidents and politicians, generals, religious leaders - sported beards of all shapes and lengths - only until fashion changed its collective mind in the 1940’s.  The most recent social turn against them seems to have been in response to the “antiestablishment” movement of the 60’s and 70’s, when men grew beards in contrast to the “clean” look of the current fashion.  My feeling now is that it’s time to let that go.  It’s time to embrace the masculine.  And I’m pleased to see an increasing number of male models sporting a beard.

So with that, I’m grateful to be living in a time when I can wear a beard, and blog about it.  Let’s spread the love.