supercheesegirl | Entries tagged with future

Full title: The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One. When I saw this book at the library, I had to snap it up right away. Lobenstine says that in essence, there are two kinds of people: Mozarts, who find one thing early on that they love and pursue for their whole lives, and Ben Franklins, who love and succeed at many different things in a wide variety of fields. Being a Franklin is no better or worse than being a Mozart, but it requires a different way of looking at how you spend your time and plan your life. Our society can be more supportive of Mozart-type personalities, expecting us to choose just one major, choose just one thing to do with our lives, and then to settle down in that field and climb the career ladder to success. This approach is bad for a Renaissance Soul--doing just one thing for our whole lives is not only boring for this sort of person, it also doesn't make the most of our potential.

The "Renaissance Soul" concept fits me perfectly. When I was a kid and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer involved some combination of rock star, scientist, archeologist, and magician. I never understood the kids who just wanted to be a doctor and then went on to... be a doctor. Not me at all. I have so many passions and interests and so many things I want to do with myself. This book gives me hope that yes, I can do all the things I want to do, if I think through what I want to do for right now and focus on those things. Lobenstine suggests that a Renaissance Soul choose four Focal Points to work on for right now--four things that you're passionate about doing. Then you make realistic plans for how much time you're going to devote to them and how you'll judge whether you've succeeded.

Lobenstine also gives--OMG!--concrete suggestions for how you can switch fields in your work life without starting over, and how to find not just a "day job" but an "umbrella" career that will let you explore your interests through your work. I think that's possibly the most valuable part of this book--the suggestions for follow-through and how to explore your Renaissance Soul and still, um, pay the bills. There's a practicality in this book that outweighs the inevitable foo-foo stuff. I now feel so much better about my writing teacher/yoga instructor/freelance editor future dreams. I can totally make that work, and I will be so happy.

I highly recommend this book to: Sara(h) the Laminator (although she may never read this post because she's in like Uzbekistan filming a documentary or something right now, she's such a Renaissance Soul I'm surprised this book didn't have her picture in it), Heather H, Dylan, Jorn, De, MrPet, Suzie, Heather N, Liz, and Joey. I think most of the folks on my F-list, and probably a good half of my friends, have some Renaissance Soul tendencies and would benefit from reading this book.

I think I want to buy a copy of this book and do the exercises in it every year or so. Because the things that are my Focal Points right now are not going to be the same a year from now, or two or three years from now. I fully intend to come back to this book again. It is a smart book.

It took me forever to get my ass in gear and get to the gym today, but once I got there, I worked really hard. 32.5 minutes on the moving-arms elliptical, 3 miles, and like 380 calories. I felt like I could maybe have gone faster, but my heart rate was (according the machine) shooting up into the "about to explode" range, so I figured it would be best to pull it back some. I mean, I didn't feel like my heart was about to explode, but you probably don't feel that sort of thing until right before it actually happens and it's too late to prevent it. I also worked hard on the weight machines, upping my weight on two of them. My arms are going to be seriously sore tomorrow. Did about 45 minutes of yoga (judging by the length of the Lotus album) and pushed really hard there too.

I'm reading this book right now, which I will of course post about in more detail later, but it's been really inspirational and it's making me consider more what I need to be doing in terms of fitness and yoga. I'm going to make an appointment with a personal trainer at my gym--I think I get one complimentary session with my year's membership, so it won't cost me anything, and if I can talk about my goals with a professional maybe he can give me some good feedback on whether I'm doing the right things. Here are my fitness goals, in order of importance right now: (1) maintain good health; (2) maintain and improve appearance/sexiness; (3)increase strength and flexibility and decrease fat (because it gets in my way!) to prepare for future career as a yoga instructor. What I'm currently doing at the gym is probably helping those goals, and can't possibly be actively hindering them, but I think talking about it with someone will be beneficial.

I have also decided that I need a training montage. They happen all the time in movies, and it gets the training done so much more quickly! I would like to run to inspirational music while my trainer shouts encouragingly. I want to hit a punching bag, awkwardly and weakly at first, but with increasing strength and vigor until I'm beating that fucker powerfully and rhythmically. I would like to see a similar progression in my pushups, situps, chinups, and all other ups. I would sweat and pant like I was going to keel over, but then I would keep going, determination shining in my eyes, and when it was all over I'd be strong and fit and ready for my final confrontation, whatever that may be. I mean, there was even a training montage in The Cutting Edge, for goodness sake. Do I have to fill out a form or something? I really want one.

Full title: Scaling Down: Living Large in a Smaller Space. Got it from the library.

This is a book about how to manage when you have too much stuff. It would be helpful and appropriate in a variety of situations, including moving to a new home, retiring and moving from a large home to a smaller one, moving in with a partner and combining your things, cleaning out a relative's home, or even just wanting to make a change and declutter your ordinary life and get that "vacation beach house" feeling every day. It's a smart, practical book full of hands-on advice to help you not just scale down, but also get past the emotional problems that lead us to accumulate too many material things.

This book was interesting and well written, fun to read, but I felt like I was not really the target audience. I am pretty good about keeping my stuff manageable, just because I've moved so much. (Anyone who has ever helped me move is totally laughing right now.) Not that I don't have my weak spots (books, obviously, and stuffed friends, memorable knicknacks, etc), but even with those, I tend to purge regularly. I got rid of a bunch of books and clothes before I left Boston, and I find myself continually purging clothes all the time. My apartment is small, but the majority of my things fit well in it (except for cds, which I have no room for), and I am fairly good at utilizing space. I'm not the best declutterer by any means, but I'm nowhere near the worst at this, either.

No, while I definitely learned a lot from this book and plan to photocopy some sections for future reference, I am not the target audience. The target audience for this book comprises people who are likely to think this book is a good idea, buy it, and stick it on a shelf or table or in a box somewhere, where it will sit for months or years, unread and contributing to the preexisting clutter in the person's home. I found myself getting very amused at this image as I read. I wonder if the authors thought of this as they wrote the book? I wonder how many books geared towards this sort of audience are stacked up somewhere because their owners plan to get around to reading them someday?

One thing this book assumes is first of all that its target audience will actually read it, and secondly that they will be able to move beyond their fear and discomfort to actually put its teachings into practice. The book gives good pointers for doing this, but sometimes it's just too difficult and painful, or the habits are so ingrained it's impossible. Which is why the book references the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), because you can search on their website for local pros in your area.

(Speaking of which, I took a look on the NAPO website, and they offer classes and resources for starting your own professional organizing business. If someone were interested in doing that. Bobbi, you should check it out. I plan to bookmark that link myself for future reference.)

I recommend this book, but only if you're serious about making a change and dedicated to making the change happen. Otherwise, it will make you feel sad and uncomfortable about your clutter paralysis, or it will just sit around adding to your clutter. But even if you're dedicated to changing just one thing (scaling down your wardrobe, maybe, or one problematic area), then this book is worth a read.

so yesterday's yoga class was awesome. i feel like i'm finally making progress (at least a little bit) with my body. yesterday i was able to (almost) get my leg completely behind head. i actually hovered in the crow position for about half a second (but my feet were off the floor for that half a second!). when doing the sun salutation, i can jump my feet back to the four-legged stick and then after downward dog can jump my feet back up to my hands again (instead of walking/hopping them up and down the mat, like i was doing all semester). AND yesterday i did a headstand for the first time. i only needed minimal help from my teacher (i can't get my ass in the air!); she helped me kick up so i could lean my feet against the wall. and it was cool.

of course, that was the last yoga class of the semester. i really want to go to triad yoga and see if i can sign up for a class there, but elan takes yoga there, and she says they're on a 12-week session plan right now, and they're in the middle of the session, and that prices have gone up. i don't really want to have to join a class mid-session, if they'd even let me do that. the cheapest course of fitness action for the summer would probably be to just join the uncg gym for the summer session at the alumni rate. i was thinking about taking some martial arts thing with carra (from self-defense), but that might be even more expensive than yoga. sigh. at least at the uncg rec center, they do have aerobics classes. i like the class thing better than i like sitting on a bike reading a magazine.

in other news. yesterday i went to the bar to meet everyone after workshop. we went to the local mexican place on tate street, which is kind of new and which i hadn't been to before. i got a strawberry margarita for only $3.75 and chicken quesadillas for $4. a pretty good price, and the quesadillas weren't bad either (although the margarita tasted too much like tequila and too little like strawberry for my taste). while we were there, melissa and adam (the mfa melissa and adam, not any of the ones you other folks know) announced their engagement. we were all congratulatory, but it was kind of weird. i like melissa, and i like adam. but some of the surprise that i felt when they first got together is persisting. i mean, i always sort of thought they just had good sex but would eventually move on. it's strange to imagine them together long term and having kids and stuff. i guess if they're happy, i'm happy too.

more and more of my friends are getting married and engaged and stuff. and every time there's a new joyous announcement, people always ask me if i'm thinking of getting married. i'm running out of cute jokes about my ringlessness. actually, i'm sick of people asking me ANYTHING about the future. when is graduation, what are you doing this summer, when are you moving to boston, do you have an apartment yet, are you looking at jobs, what kind of job do you want, what are you going to do????? shut the fuck up, all of you. i will fucking let you know when i figure my shit out, believe me. i know people are just interested and concerned and stuff, but it is seriously not helping.

the one good thing about my family/friends back home not being particularly fond of jorn is that they don't ask if we're planning to get married. they ask about all the other stuff, but not that, thankfully.

ANYWAY, this was supposed to be a happy post. and it is a happy post. because i did okay on my self-defense test--after arguing with dave on one question, i believe that now i have 10/10 on the written test (although i got 26/30 on the skillz test, which was the lowest grade in the class, even if it is a B). AND i got fred's signature on my thesis yesterday, and christy's this morning, so this afternoon after work i am going directly to the graduate school and DROPPING OFF MY THESIS. i will be so glad when it's out of my hands. i will sing The Done Song.

zelda notes: i hate those stupid fish people! stealing all my goddamned stuff. little fuckers. i want to blow up their stupid island.

tonight: watching x-men with rhett and jorn and maybe elan and some other people over at rhett's house. tomorrow: catching a matinee of x-men 2 with jorn. probably doing a bunch of other stuff too.

oh, and the self-defense girls all want to hang out sometime. we set a tentative date for may 13, a tuesday at the end of finals. not like i have finals, but they do. and we can't go to a bar, since a few of them aren't 21 yet. poor babies! but i'm really excited, i like the self-defense girls.

Current Mood: mixed

i got an easter package from my mom today! it had a big easter basket with all kinds of candy, and a furry stuffed duck, and new pajamas. the pajamas are really awesome - they're fleecy, and they're printed with little cats and dogs in bumper cars. very odd, but that's probably why my mom was able to get them half off.

and i had a really good night at job #2 tonight. i was on the floor, which means i was working with a bunch of kids, not just one on one with a little kid or an SAT student. it was good to work with many kids tonight. i usually feel more like i've actually taught someone something when i'm on the floor, because usually at least one kid profits by my being there, whereas if i'm doing one-on-one and the kid's tired or sick or grumpy, no learning occurs at all.

and when i started this job, i thought the whole "learning center" thing was kind of lame, you know, sylvan, huntington, all the SAT prep places, like what good do they do anyone really? but since i've been working here, i've seen kids improve by leaps and bounds. so many of the kids i work with just needed more reading practice and some individual attention, and they're flourishing and doing really well. granted, there's a few kids i've worked with who don't want to learn, and therefore they don't learn and they hinder everyone else. and some of my SAT prep students would be better off just going to cosmetology school instead of college. but i like this job, and i really thought i would hate it.

i don't know if i want to teach college though. this career thing, it's on my mind and stuff. it's one thing to teach someone something specific. like working at the HLC, there's these kids who can't read and have no study skills, and they have assignments to do, and i'm helping them learn. or working at the writing center my senior year at SU: people had papers they wrote that sucked and they needed me to help them figure out why. or working at the freshman advising center this year, or even being a tour guide - situations in which people come to me needing some specific information that i can provide, and then i provide it. that's one thing.

talking for an hour to a roomful of bored freshmen or high school kids is something else entirely. it's like having to give a presentation every day, and we all know how i feel about giving presentations. it skeeves me out (if you didn't know). i hate talking in front of people. but sit me down with a student and something hands-on to do, and i think i'm a pretty good teacher. this is the kind of thing i think about when i worry about what the hell i'm going to do with an MFA in poetry writing. :)

Current Mood: content
Current Music: the heater hissing. my fucking STEREO doesn't work.