It was coming. I been wanting to share with y’all, some of the basics behind me, this gig that I keep posting and being grateful. My September and October have been bursting with good things and better energy. The Gratitude Journal dropped earlier and made it officially one public entry every day. I haven’t missed a day with my yoga and meditation. I do miss some days working out but *shrugs* I would much rather be juggling what I’m juggling than struggling so much. (Did you catch that rhyme? *duck face* So, let’s start with this overall truth. I am doing this, getting stuff done. I was stressing over how I would adapt to being on the clock, unable to yoga as needed, medicate as needed, just like… be me and everything. I am doing it and learning along the way. I always think I’m behind my colleagues and classmates but then in small groups, I find out that I’m doing good. It is NOT perfect now. Please, do not leave this blog thinking that having a job makes everything in my life better. I’m a long ways from where I want to be, need to be and deserve to be. I am closer. I really am. This gig has placed an idea of my future in my mind and I love it. I cherish it. I think of it everyday. I dream of it. I see myself, on the beach, people following me through yoga, slow sipping on cold beer, blazing in broad daylight, setting up for DISABLED yoga, writing books at night, teaching kids English and helping people with their medical plans and decisions. I am fascinated with this dream. It incorporates every aspect of life and I’m happy every time I drift there. Not just grateful, but genuinely, honestly, authentically happy. I have never envisioned myself being there but I’m coming. I’m going. I will ride this gig until the next step of my fate.
How I got the J-O-B.
LinkedIn. *shaking head* Nope, I don’t when I applied. Naw playa, I don’t know the name of the application or company. Before you even ask, I ain’t met a soul that I feel comfortable saying, ‘tell em I sent you’. We good? *nods heads* Cool beans. I got the gig through LinkedIn and this is how it happened. I gotta call on late Friday evening from a weird number, it have been Idaho. I used to always skip, ignore, answer/hang up and all the other tricks to bill collectors and advertisers. I stopped all that mess THIS pandemic. At some point, I started thinking, what if something good comes from answering? The worst thing that could happen is it’s that familiar pause before the caller pronounciates your name all jacked up and you hang up for real. The best thing? Might be a new client for tutoring. *fingers crossed* Might be an interested party in my freelance writing services. *toes crosses* Might even be a random cousin, aunt, uncle, homie, potna, organization calling to what’s up, introduce themselves or… *drum roll please* a job interview. I wasn’t ready for an impromptu interview. Had nooo idea that Friday was the day but boom. Dude answered the ring with “Excuse me. My name is __ __ with ___. Are you available for an interview over a health and life sales position? Why yes. Yes, I am. With whom am I speaking? From there, I had a 45min interview that ended with the caller recommending me for employment. I didn’t think it real. I thought it was a scam. I’ve been goosed by a couple internet job scams so I’m more hesitant these days. Obviously it is very much real. The company mailed me desktop PC, headset and two screens. (Yooo…. the amount of information to process, evaluate and make a decision is craaaaazy compared to everything I’ve ever done.)
What I’m trying to say is update your resume as much as possible, answer the phones and keep applying. Turns out, I was approached by a recruiter. HIS job is review folks on LinkedIn, regardless of application status, and offer the best candidates an interview. That means, update your resume, make it pretty with relevant information, do more than one, apply, adjust to match multiple applications because the entire process of looking for remote work is a JOB. You will HAVE to treat your resume like platinum because it’s cats out there, like me, doing all types of stuff to make their resumes pop more than yours. They using color, bold, changing fonts, adding numbers and emails that work, writing whole letters of interest for every position that they apply to, stretching their experience to match qualifications, forgetting what they did and getting jobs. YOU can too. How long did it take me? Stop. I’ve been doing this for years now and this is my first ever, LEGIT AND LEGAL, work-from-home job.
The Good…
She really does. She likes me working. I like me working. Kids like me working. (HELL NAW, THEY NOT QUIET WHILE I WORK!) Bills like me working. Good times loooove me working. Even my blog is liking me working despite the fact I spend less time with it. I already brought up the webcam so I’ll finish it now. Webcams are my new reason for shaving, prepping, primping and pimpin before getting on the clock. Yeeeees, I cleaned myself and man-scaped before getting the job. Now tho? Now, I’m back to looking my best early AM. I’m motivated to wash clothes, pick outfits and wear jewelry because I know somebody gon see me. The webcam and work things have transformed my bedroom into a upscale, business bar. *winks* I have my first study group. Waaaaaay back in college, I avoided study groups like the plague. I knew it was just a reason for students, slacking, to catch up off the back, shoulders, notes and minds of kids doing their work. In my head, folks were really only meeting up to shoot game and try to smash or something. 2020 has changed that for me. I’m in the class and a few people hit me up about studying together. I told them all no because I could tell by the way class goes, they don’t know jack and not paying attention. When one particular colleague asked, I was intrigued right away because he didn’t speak anyway, always had legit questions and generally came across like a cool, black Father. Shhhhhiiiiiiiiiid, me too. Within days, we added a few more Kings and Queens and things were off for the better. If I happen to “spaz out” or start daydreaming, miss some stuff, I can shoot a text message to the groups and somebody got me. If they’re falling asleep during a strongly, boring section, I shoot a message and we laughing and back wide awake. Each of them has a side hustle, 2nd job, in school or have awesome dream of entrepreneurship. Most of them from other countries so the accents and stories are unlike I’ve ever normally dealt with. Dawg, I love it. I have a true OVERstanding of my kids’ school issues too. *eye rolls* The sheer amount of interruptions, distractions, wi-fi getting dropped, computer messing up, all that stuff blows up your learning. It’s huge part of why I have a study group. I am absolutely taking these lessons back to my kids and demanding they step up. *folds arms* I am so they can. Something else good? The paycheck! Got my kids back on allowances and allowances are tied to chores and being quiet. (This actually starts on the next paycheck. First, they gotta earn the allowance!) I enjoy putting my phone away for hours at a time. Giving my eyes, brain and attention a break from the cell screen, notifications, social media responsibilities and everything else associated with phones, emails, tags, etc. My little set up is between the bed and RR so I’m perfectly situated. I have pictures and nice things hanging behind me like a professional. The good is that this job merged seamlessly with my positioning.
The Bad…
The learning environment is…. Rough. There are so many levels of computer literacy, insurance knowledge and overall experience that the class is rarely ever moving together in one direction. There are questions, questions and more questions. Most of those questions are the same damn question! The internet messes up a lot too. I have to be logged in so when Wi-Fi jacks up, I’m not paid. When we reach a certain numbers of hours of issues, we’re terminated. *yikes* My bedroom is drowning in cords, boxes, wires, plastic, labels, etc. At some point, this is fixed by me taking time to organize all the junk. (When? No idea.) The schedule of M-F, 8:30 – 4:30pm cramps my style and freedom but I’ll gladly accept the trade right now.
The Best…
The bestest thing about the gig is that I can treat myself and heal myself throughout the day. The duties of the position are wrecking my personal schedule, habits and routines that insulate me from the Multiple Sclerosis symptoms. My plumbing (using the RR) is sorely compromised and worse than ever. I can’t drink as much alkaline water/any water as I need to because I’m working and shouldn’t be going to the RR so much. I miss my lunches because 30min is NOT enough time for my disabled ass to use the restroom, wheel out the room to the kitchen, make something and get back to my spot. I can’t do it. Not enough time. I should pre-pack my lunch and that makes a huuuuge difference but since we have webcam, I can’t eat off my break. My feet are in the wheelchair stirrups more so I have more neurosis. All of that leads to more shaking, tremors, tinnitus, my eyes roll more due to the two screens, charley horses, exhaustion…. I’m putting it all here with Bestest for the fact that the gig allows opportunities to manage my illness. My heated foot massager is under the table for easy access, heating pad next it. I’m getting books read and blogs completed because I’m in RR instead of eating. For all the RR issues, the trainer has stated, “Dude, I understand your situation, your commitment. I follow your blog. You have full permission to go potty as needed, turn off webcam and I’m NOT gonna penalize you for missing time. There have been multiple occasions of pain and discomfort that I address with yoga during our 15-min breaks. My fingers are getting freaked out from the constant use but at the same time, I can’t lie. I can feel that they are improving in their efficiency and effectiveness. I can blog faster because I’m getting used to the schedule. When I’m tripping, stressing and going on, I break out the essential oils of lavender, chamomile, franken-something and other scents. I had stopped using my essential oils because I was never anywhere long enough to actually benefit. I play video games less but write about them more. (Probably don’t get that do you?) I’m drinking a tad less because even tho I KNOW I will not miss a day due to hangover, I just don’t have the time to drink after a hard day. Nope, after a loooong, hard day, I’m canni-bicating, blogging and being a pain in the ass to my family by shouting stuff like, “Yoo! I’m OFF work. Let’s get loud AGAIN!”
Previous Related Post: Healing Multiple Sclerosis (book review!)