Monday, January 18, 2010
Squeaky Wheel and All That
Last year I was feeling attacked and people were nitpicking my performance. I felt like no one trusted me to do my job let alone take on more responsibilities. I was often done with my work quickly and spent the remainder of my time surfing the internet. Enter the GM who listened to me when I said "I can do more. I want to be able to shine and I have never had the opportunity to do so." And now is my time.
I have been given the responsibility of calling our customers who wish to cancel their accounts and try to "save" them. Today was my first day of sorting through the pile and I did talk to three clients. I wasn't able to save any of them but it did give me some experience in composing a "script" for the best things to say. Hopefully my nervousness didn't show. I even polled a co-worker after my calls to see if he thought I sounded nervous. He didn't. So yay for that!
For now it is a trial run to see how I do and if I feel it is a good fit for me. As of now, I'm excited to put my customer service skills to the test and see what happens.
Capellini Primavera
oil--1 turn of the pan
butter--2-4 tbs
garlic (2 huge teaspoons of minced garlic)
5 green onions, sliced (white and green parts)
1/2 lg. zucchini, julienned
1/2 orange bell pepper, julienned
2 cans italian-style diced tomatoes (1 drained, one not)
16 oz angel hair pasta
basil and oregano, to taste
shredded parmesan cheese
Make the pasta--you don't need me to tell you how. Heat oil and butter together in pan. Add garlic and all veggies except the canned tomatoes. Add basil and oregano. Just before you drain the pasta, add the tomatoes to your veggie mixture. Toss in the hot, drained pasta to coat. Serve with shredded parmesan cheese.
This was pretty yummy. But next time I think I would add more garlic and the whole zucchini and pepper rather than half of each. I really want to make this with spaghetti squash but my grocery store hasn't had them in stock. Mushrooms and/or shrimp would be great too but I was trying to keep the cost down. As it is, this cost just under $5 to make and I have enough for many lunches this week.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Introspection: 2009 Redux
Spring found me taking my first college classes in over a decade. I liked Quickbooks, but accounting on the whole was boring. Who am I kidding? I wasn't born to be an accountant. Enter psychotherapy. I love going to therapy. The decision to do so is singularly my greatest achievement and the thing that makes me most proud. I have learned so much about myself and other people that I do not see the world in the same way anymore. I see the people in my life in a broader, brighter light and the manner in which I gauge new acquaintances is different too. I have seen the change and I want to be a part of that change. More specifically I see how Dr. Carl Gustav Jung hit the nail on the head when he devised a system to help us heal ourselves. I want to be a Jungian psychotherapist. My main goal for 2010 is to find a way to make it happen.
In that same Jungian vein, Summer found me stumbling across the art/therapy of mandala making. I was very stressed with life and work and relationships. I can’t even recall the specifics only that I know it was so. I did some cursory research on mandalas because I had seen them mentioned in Dr. Jung’s book Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. On a whim, whilst at work, I drew my first mandala on a piece of scrap paper and brought it to therapy the next day. In the following days I purchased a sketchbook in which to keep all of my drawings. Even still I didn’t realize the impact the creation of these freehand medallions would have in my healing. My initial goal was to do one a day and while the frequency has subsided the satisfaction in completing each piece grows.
This Autumn and Winter witnessed changes in myself and loved ones that are indescribable and inspiring. Realizing that the Wheel does indeed turn and that it turns from the Worst to the Wonderful. And knowing that Now is the time to embrace all of this. To embrace what I am striving to do right and if I didn’t know so in the Past, I do know it Now. And with knowledge comes power and responsibility to do better. The light of last night’s Blue Moon cast illumination on my path for this new year: to maintain a path that seeks to be honest and direct while being kind and respectful of other people and their feelings. To maintain boundaries which honor myself and my self-worth and that of those around me.
New arrangements are being composed and the melody is promising--bigger, expansive and welcoming. Hello 2010, I think we’re going to be great friends.