Tag Archives: work

Aug11

Spin Cycle

Posted on August 11, 2019 by 805diva

And I don’t mean laundry…

A little over a year ago was when I and many of my coworkers learned that our company was moving several departments away from our facility here. We were not moving with them. Ample notice and generous severance softened the blow a little bit, but, for me, it also made it easier to live in denial for a longer period of time.

The last six months of work came and went, followed by my road trip, #OperationTakeAMinute. That month on the road was unlike anything I had ever attempted before, especially traveling by myself. It was a wonderful, soul-healing time spent visiting some family (blood and chosen) and a few intentional nights alone as well.

Upon my return I began the process of rebuilding my resume’ and searching for a job. Thus began my experience with Temporary Employment. My recruiter with the staffing agency has been wonderful to help me find leads. I spent a couple of months at an assignment that I hoped would become permanent, but timing, circumstances, and internal changes with that company were not conducive to me remaining there. So I waited for the next assignment while submitting applications and resumes everyplace interesting that I could find (and some less interesting places too!). This past week I began a new assignment, with hopes for something permanent elsewhere.

After working for so long in one place, this new situation feels a lot like I’m living in the spin cycle. I have often felt like a dirty garment, tossed into a dark place, drowned in soapy water, agitated and thrown around, eventually to be spun at dizzying speed to get most of the water out. Then the whole thing starts all over again to rinse the soap—and the dirt—away, It’s actually kind of a violent process!

BUT…this has to happen for the clothes to get clean. Perhaps that is what this period of transition, instability and uncertainty is supposed to be doing for me. Perhaps this process is cleansing me. I sure hope so. I hope this life stage is cleansing me to get me ready for the next opportunity, whether that opportunity is professional, spiritual, personal, or something else.

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Mar28

#OperationTakeAMinute

Posted on March 28, 2019 by 805diva

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The purpose and the planning

After seventeen and a half years working for the same company, my employment ended officially on Friday, February 1, 2019, but my last actual work day on-site was Saturday, January 26. It was a strange, emotional day, one I had known was coming for six months, when notice was given to me and my department-mates that our jobs would be coming to a conclusion. Walking out the door that last time, leaving my ID badge on my manager’s desk, felt a bit like I was leaving a piece of myself behind.

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I knew that, after working for so long in one place with a team of people I had come to love like family in many cases, I would need some time to recover after it was over. That is how #OperationTakeAMinute was born.

My friend and #FirstEverWorkHusband, Martin, was the first person to suggest a road trip. I had never even considered such a thing. I am not the person who does any of the driving when Sweet Pea and I take vacations. For years I couldn’t even stay awake when we traveled by car. But after thinking about it, talking to my sweet husband, and getting ideas from some friends, I began to think that a road trip would be a great chance to clear my head and get some rest. Truth told, the last six months had left me feeling much more beaten-up than even I realized, and the despair had taken hold more strongly than I wanted to admit.

If this thing was going to do me any good at all, I reasoned, I would need to do some of the things I never had time to do because I was always rushing to get back to work. Well, rushing back to work was not really an issue at this point. So I talked to my “choir boss” at church and asked for a little time off from singing responsibilities there, and he was most gracious and accommodating. We sat down with a calendar and determined when would be a good window for me to be gone. Then my planning began in earnest.

I started deciding my route and stops, who I wanted to visit, places I might like to see and photograph along the way. The more the path and its timeline took shape, the more excited I became. A forward momentum was happening that I had been missing for a long time, and I was starting to feel…hopeful.

In the television industry, time is truly of the essence. Not just hours and minutes, but seconds—and every second is divided into 30 frames of video. Since 1994 when I began my first television job in master control, time has dictated much of my existence. It seemed only fitting to name my road trip adventure #OperationTakeAMinute. A minute, to catch my breath, recover, and prepare for the next chapter of my professional—and personal—life.

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Jun10

Best Friends

Posted on June 10, 2016 by 805diva

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Too many kinds to count…

This week many people observed National Best Friends Day. I think it’s a nice idea to recognize the value of friendship and to appreciate the people who add such richness to our lives. It got me thinking about the many “best friends” I have enjoyed over the years…and why I can’t really say that I have ONE best friend.

There were the earliest friendships I enjoyed with my brother and cousins, before school started and we met all those other kids in our age group. Even though I am not as closely in touch with my cousins as I’d like to be, they are in my heart always, and I would give any of them anything I could offer if they were in need and I could help. We share memories, blood and decades of love.

Then came the school friends, those people outside my family circle, the ones I met and learned how much we had in common. Those moments of discovering that we liked or disliked the same foods, or shared a favorite song or hobby, were the youthful foundations upon which some of my longest-time friendships were built. I am still in touch with some of my grade-and-high-school friends on social media, and seeing how their lives have progressed to this point is both fun and rewarding.

The church and college friends began my deepest connections, ties that bind us across years and miles to this day. My college graduating class has a milestone reunion coming up this fall at homecoming, and I look forward to seeing many of my classmates there to reminisce about our times in the dorm and the music building. My roommates especially helped me bridge the transition between living at home with my parents and making a new home with my husband. I crave in my heart to see Janet and Dana, and soon. It has been WAY too long since the three of us have been together.

These days I am still making college friends through my connections as the Chapter Mother for Alpha Gamma Chapter of Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity at Carson-Newman University. Getting to know these young student musicians and to encourage them has been my joy for almost 10 years now, and I hope to continue in this capacity for many years to come. My musician friends come in all ages, shapes and sizes, with specialties ranging from voice and instruments to conducting and composing. These friendships help me to continue growing as a musician and as a human.

I’m grateful that almost every job I’ve held has yielded one or two lasting friendships as well, and since I’ve worked in predominantly male environments, I refer to some of these fellows as my “work husbands”. At my first TV job, there was only one other woman in my department, a top-notch board operator named Linda. We referred to ourselves as The Gyno Mafia! I have a dream team of current and former coworkers I would surround myself with if I ever had the chance to build my own company. The combination of professional excellence and wacky humor makes work a lot more fun, and shared goals (and grievances!) give us much to share.

So many other “best friends” come to mind. Mama and The Aunts who wait for me in Heaven. My precious husband, who, after nearly 30 years of marriage, is still my favorite person to spend time with. And our beloved, goofy dogs, Ernie The Wonder Beagle (in Heaven) and Our Boy Roy, who has been part of our family for almost 9 years now.