No 12 Tiny Things installment this week, but it may return by the end of the month, or in May. Instead, let’s talk spring, and patience, and weathering the storms of the times.
What comes to mind when you hear the word spring? In my part of the world, spring means getting out the mud boots, ordering seeds because I forgot to order them in January when you are “supposed to” and hoping for warmer weather while still mourning the passing of winter. Spring means anticipation and newness and lengthening. It means the return of bird and frog song to the morning, and it means sloughing off winter dryness and letting the sun melt into my skin. It means the first steps on freshly turned soil and life springing forth from that which seemed dead just weeks ago. It is the tiny blue wildflowers that are first to pop up and the delicate tendrils of new growth on the mossy parts of the yard. It is recognizing that the earth knows how to do this, if we would only follow her lead.
That’s an excerpt from an old book of mine called Woodland Manitou. This year, spring came in like a lamb and is predicted to go out like a lion1—it was 60-some degrees a few weeks ago, and the forecast for this next weekend calls for 8-10 inches of snow. We’ll see if we get that…we could use it, as the St. Croix River is the lowest I can remember it being this time of year, and “the oracle” (i.e. a very old stump and roots that Eva and I dubbed ‘the oracle’ when she was very small) is fully exposed to the air rather than being mostly submerged in the lake as it usually is. This past winter was strange in myriad ways, and the spring is no different. Everything feels just a little bit off.
I made a spreadsheet of all the jobs I’ve applied for since being laid off at the end of January—48. I’ve gotten three interviews from that effort. (and an effort it is…looking for a full time job with benefits is a full time job in itself—writing cover letters, ensuring the stuff highlighted on the resume is aligned with what the job requires, sending thank you notes to referrals, asking people you’ve worked with in the past to refer you to the hiring manager at their company, researching unemployment benefits in case you don’t find a job by the end of the month…the list goes on. Not to mention launching a book on April 2, my efforts of which have fallen a bit to the wayside.)
The first interview I had was for a part time, contract coaching job at an adolescent start up—and the person conducting the interview asked me two questions: what do I want in a coaching job, and when can I start. Which, I don’t know…doesn’t seem like enough intel on me to truly decide if I’m a good fit for the position. At any rate, they didn’t offer me a position. The next interview I had was for a pretty good job at a fairly established company…and it went well, and I was set to move into the next phase of hiring…and then I got an email the next day that informed me that their business needs had changed and they decided to not fill the position after all. That was pretty frustrating. Then the third interview was for another part time contract role, at an even younger start up, and I haven’t heard from that one again yet. [Edited to add…now my application says “not selected by employer” so there’s that.2] Most of the jobs in the industry I’ve worked in the past 17 years at established companies are getting 200-500 applicants, which is astonishing (and makes sense, I guess, after all the tech layoffs these past 2-3 years). There is no labor shortage when it comes to health coaches or writers of health related/sustainability content, apparently. I have a few more interviews this week, so we’ll see what transpires.
Anyway, the job search has been a slog, and quite a culture study in itself. There’s a lot of toxic stuff out there (and to be fair, some really great organizations, too—here’s hoping one of those fishes my resume out of the digital stack at some point. Or that someone really famous discovers my books and starts posting about them daily on their social media accounts 😆). If you’re in the same boat, I’ve said this before but I repeat it to myself often: Don’t let the robots get you down. Stay connected to your humanity, and remember that you are not your job.
I’m ready for some of the energy that spring brings with it, no matter how upside down the world feels. I’m ready for new life springing forth and the kind of growth that is sustainable and life-giving.3
How about you? What do you need this equinox as we step into a new season?
Here’s to spring.
Upcoming events:
I’ll be at The Nook, a bookshop in Brookings, South Dakota, on March 30 doing a signing from 10-noon! If you’re in town, I hope to see you then.
Then I’ll be at Big Rock Creek’s Women’s Expo on May 11th — all of my titles will be available via Twinflower Books, and Mary from Twinflower and I will be on stage in conversation at noon.
The “In like a lion, out like a lamb” phrase brings me immediately to my 2nd grade classroom where the teacher had all the months and their sayings tacked up around the perimeter of the room.
This is perplexing, as I’ve got 17 years of coaching experience and I’m a really, really good coach, so it’s either a ‘you’re over qualified situation’ and ‘we want someone we can mold’ or I have really forgotten how to sell myself (not that I ever really knew, or wanted to know, how to do that..)
Another astonishing thing is how many job listings say things like “must strive for constant growth” in some form. It shouldn’t really surprise me anymore, I suppose, but I remain astounded by how far removed from life cycles so many organizations/employers are to be demanding ‘constant growth’ from their employees. Maybe it’s my soap box, but I stand by the need for fallow times and rest and being okay with coasting when a life season demands it. Continuous learning and evolution as human: yes. Constantly pushing for more, better, faster: no (this is what leads to burnout).