Embrace the unexpected

Getting laid off can either be the best thing ever or the worst thing ever.

Look on the bright side: you have tons of time to follow the muse – after you click off the obligatory income-hunting chores du jour….

I have become a master at playing the no day job game and it’s awesome when you can get your mind to happily exist in that place.

Originally published 10-7-2016

When I was rather unexpectedly laid off from the day job at the magazine at the end of August, I decided to look on the upside of things -- all of a sudden I have lots of time on my hands to spend in my studio without being mentally distracted by the daily demands of a job. Sure, there is anxiety associated with being unemployed, but if you treat the job hunt part of your day like a temp job and just blitz through the finding leads, sending out and following up on stuff to efficiently get it over with, all of a sudden you have hours and hours of unencumbered time at your disposal. It's actually really awesome. I've been sleeping like a rock, eating so healthy it's scary, suddenly have lots of energy, and strangely, no more acid reflux. I haven't left the house for weeks except to take a daily walk around my local lake, or to visit the mailbox or work in my garden.

All this positive force means I've been making work like a fiend, sending out class proposals, applying for residencies, shaking up some freelance work and teaching workshops, organizing my paperwork, cleaning up my digital assets, mastering some code, getting the book idea that's been dancing in my head for about 8 months committed to a worddoc, and generally investing 100% of my creative energy into ProjectHelen instead of ProjectElsewhere. Hate to sound selfish, but ProjectHelen is so rewarding because there are actually tangible rewards when you invest in yourself. I could really get used to this...

Anyway, quick word of reassurance -- I promise will still be writing about Tools and Bench Tips here on a regular basis. My last formal column will run in the November 2016 issue. For the past few weeks, I gave myself permission for an essential and very healing mental break after what went down at the magazine. I just had to allow the trauma to sink in and process itself down and out of me. I am happy to say I am cool with it now, doo-doo happens and, it was a great gig while I had it. Oh, and good luck...

So. Over, next. If you follow me on FB or Instagram, you'll see I've been toying with some video, taking loads of step shots, and creating some new classes for Tucson and BeadFest, plus some other places I hope to reveal soon. Keep an eye on my class descriptions for updates. And now, I can be here more often, too.

Change, they say, is as good as a rest. Um, yep!