Office Space

I love this movie. Okay, so it’s not the greatest bit of film out there, but it never ceases to make me both laugh and nod in complete recognition at the same time. Now that I have decided to make a career change and leave the business world, it's taken on a whole new meaning for me.

While watching this movie a few weeks ago, it dawned on me that I have become Peter Gibbons.

I don’t care anymore. I pass the workday doing as little as possible, because frankly, I have lost all interest in my job. I'm trying very hard not to have a bad attitude, but some days it's quite the struggle. I would love to just stop going to work, like Peter. Luckily I have enough sense to realize that I have bills to pay, and no rich relatives ready to leave me a great inheritance.

But now that I finally realized I never wanted to work in an office, I'm almost desperate to get out. (I can't believe it took me so long to realize something so simple!)

One of my favorite lines from the movie: "Michael, we don't have a lot of time on this earth! We weren't meant to spend it this way. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about about mission statements."

I'm still deciding between learning permament makeup and laser hair removal, but I've been busy researching my options regarding training and employment. Unfortunately, I can't just quit my current job until I have something else lined up, so I'm contacting various doctors/spas/salons/etc. With enough persistence and luck, I'll be able to secure an employment contract, contingent upon successfully completing training. I know it's a long shot for someone to take a chance on me, considering I will have no experience, but all it takes is one person to believe in me!

So many decisions!

I've been researching the permanent makeup thing, which has only led to more questions, which in turn leads to more decisions to make!

Such as: I can't just quit my current job until I have something else lined up because we have bills to pay. My husband makes about twice as much as I do, but we still rely on my salary. And I can't take the training until I have a job lined up, because I have no more vacation time at my current job and they won't let me take time off without pay! (How ironic that I'm trying to create more free time for myself and that's what's stopping me from doing it!)

So do I stay at my miserable job until January, when I can take time off for the training? Or do I find another job and take a week off in between jobs for the training? Maybe a part-time job, so I can pursue my new career the rest of the time, then quit the part-time job once I've built up a bit of clientele?

While I was debating all of this in my mind, my research led me to an article about laser hair removal. I've had this done on my underarms, which only partially worked, because my hair is so light. But since I'm very hairy, I've always been fascinated by the methods of hair removal. So I started looking into training for that. It intrigues me!

The training is quite a bit cheaper (which I thought was odd), but I would have to travel out of state for it, so add in airline tickets, hotel, meals, etc., and it would be about the same price.

I made a list (there I go with the lists again!), and I'm going to contact several people in each line of work. I have quite a few questions, and I think hearing from people who do these things every day will help me make a decision.

Ack!! I know things will all fall into place, but why does this part have to be so difficult?!?!

Quick update

On Friday I met with the lady about my possible new career. For those who are curious, it is doing permanent makeup. Although I love makeup and would be interested in this even if it were just about makeup, there's more to it than that. More and more plastic surgeons and dermatologists are offering this service in their offices, mainly for women who have had mastectomies, to recreate the look of a nipple. Also, women who have arthritis or parkinson's disease have a hard time applying makeup. I like the idea of being able to help people in that way.

It went quite well, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it. I want to do a bit more research first, but I'm excited! I think the fact that I'm excited and happy is a good sign that it's the right move for me. Not to mention that I would only need 6-8 clients per month to equal what I make right now. What a sad comment that is about my current job!

More on this later...we've had a bit of a family emergency this weekend, and I'm wiped out (more on that later also).

Serendipity

Serendipity...the faculty of making fortunate decisions by accident.

It's one of those words that just doesn’t come across my radar very often, but it’s a word that I like to read and/or speak...like wanderlust...or canoodling. I love hearing about celebrities being spotted canoodling, partly because I’m strangely fascinated by celebrities, and partly because I love the word!

But I digress. I read the word “serendipity” last week, and other than thinking about how much I like the word, I quickly forgot about it.

Then something happened.

After almost a year of procrastinating, I started reading “Eat Pray Love”. I was in tears by the end of the first page. While I’m not finished with the book yet (I can’t bear to read too many chapters at once), it’s definitely made me look deep and hard at my own life. What do I really want out of life? A family? Yes (soon, hopefully!). To keep traveling, both to my beloved Italy and to many other places? Yes. A job I look forward to going to? Yes.

Therein lies my problem. I can’t imagine looking forward to going to a place every day that controls my life, a place that tells me when I can take vacation and for how long, a place that tells me I can only spend so much time at home after I have a baby, a place that limits my salary based on some arbitrary salary range.

As I am in the midst of this job search, something keeps telling me that, even after I find a job with more vacation time, I am still going to feel trapped. It's my life, shouldn't I be allowed to make these decisions for myself?

So I've been pondering various options. I'm sure I must have some hidden talent which would allow me to make a living doing something I enjoy and that I am good at. But what might that talent be? What do I enjoy? And where might those two things intersect?

Here's where serendipity stepped in and perhaps helped me out. Last week I was skimming the local newspaper. I don't read it very often, but this day I saw it sitting on a table at work and picked it up.

Right there staring at me from the front page of the Life & Style section was a fascinating article. I don't want to say what it's about yet, as I'm afraid typing it will somehow jinx it! Anyway, it involves a training program for something that I find very interesting and that I think I would be very good at. I've done a bit of research over the last few days, and the woman who does this is apparently rather well-known for her expertise in this area...and as luck would have it, she offers her training program right here in Reno!

I'm going to meet with her to discuss the training and potential for this field. The training is expensive, but I'd rather spend some money now to make it all worthwhile in the end.

"Serendipity. Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you've found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for." ~ Lawrence Block