Photojournalism Class - Feature Photo

I'm taking a 10 week Photojournalism class at Focal Point in Vancouver. Our first week we talked about what photojournalism is, ethical issues and a typical feature photo. Our homework was to shoot 5 feature photos, these are mine.

Everyone's favourite of the set..... 'Summer has Arrived'

Career Transitions Part 2

Notes from Career Coaching Session 2:

On reflection, the plan I had during my 1st career coaching session was over ambitious. Simplicity is the key, iand so is finding a niche or specialisation. What do I want to become an expert in? I talked about the Internship I hadn't got. At the time I had felt dejected, but I know it's for the best. My career coach reminded me that life is messy, there are always challenges no matter what and challenges are often disguised attempts at new opportunities. When one door closes another opens.

 

So my question is - How do I get to where I’m going? First I need to better understand where I want to go and then build a plan. Career transitions are a process, which can't be sped-up or forced. The key is to identify and remove blocks; fears or stories. The process of career transition is about exploring not committing, finding a place to start.

 

My career coach, also reminded me of the importance of information interviews. My goal this month is to do four, in the following areas: travel & tourism, small business, PR, marketing communications.

 

I often feel reluctant to ask busy people for their time but I was given some great tips on how to approach people for an information interview.

• Make it as easy as possible, show understanding for the fact that their time is stretched, express how much you appreciate their time and why.
• Acknowledge how you feel, express appreciation for their time, try language like 'would you be open to' or 'I'm looking to gain solid information about (given role or industry)', 
• Info interview can be done by phone, email or in person, ask them which works best for them
• Let them know that any time they have to give you is appreciated, even ten minutes, people tend to enjoy talking about their careers so you'll likely get more

I'm interested in:
• Creative Communications: writing, editing, strategy, marketing, photography, audio, video
• Communication (marketing) strategy, planning and implementation
• Writing for journals, magazines (small tourism and travel businesses)
• Photography – how culture and art help promote and support tourism (the reason people travel)
• Photography exposition

• Treat Entitled Canada like a job – what is my title = Marketing, Sales & Business Development

To Do Checklist (before our next meeting):
• Go back and answer my career coach's questionnaire 'Picture Your Future'
• 4 Information Interviews
• Twitter account

Resources:
• Marcus Buckingham
• Artemis Communications

~ Future Forward

Career Transitions Part 1

When I was 18, just before graduating from high school, my dad took me to Galiano Island. I clearly remember walking by some horse stables and him asking me what kind of work I as interested in, I said Animal Behaviour. I could tell from his response that this was the 'wrong' answer. In a futile attempt to please him I switched course to something more safe, practical and applicable - business studies.

I never expected to go to university but in a twist of fate I completed a BA in Marketing & Tourism and a MSc in International Management. I worked in Marketing and eventually Project Management for ten years. I took pride in my skills and the work I accomplished but I never felt connected or passionate about my work. In my 20s I spent a good 5 years trying to figure out what would be a better fit, it was a frustrating process and in the end I sadly gave up. 

Now in my late 30s I am craving connecting to meaningful work, not doing so is simply too soul destroying. My 'journey' started with an amazing BC government career search program called North Shore Compass (this program has now been cut). I learnt the importance of spending time doing things which make me feel alive, those moments when you are in the flow, in the present.

Having spent the last year healing myself I now fee ready to move forward!

My first step was to examine my existing skills and interests;

My Skills:
• Writing
• Photography
• Marketing
• Research
• Technology
• Project Management
• Property Management
• Tourism
• Teaching
• Dog Walking / Sitting
• Nature

Interests:
• Sustainability & Environment
• Tourism
• Outdoor recreation (nature)
• Economic Development
• Art & Culture
• Small / Local Business Development

My plan was to do marketing, sales and business development for my mom's fascinator & hat business Entitled Canada while also researching a career in communications: writing & photography.

I engaged a career coach - Alison Hale @ Vocational Advantage.

In our first Career Coaching Session we discussed:

• The importance of making solid decisions about my future by doing the groundwork and laying the foundation
• Be as clear and specific as possible about the kind of work I want to do
• Thinking about which areas I would want to specialise in, create a niche
• Leverage the best of yourself
• Information interviews
• Virtual mentors by following people who inspire and motivate me on twitter
• Giving myself a time frame to dream and commit to the process > focus on what you get passion from > avoid all other noise, other offers – if it doesn’t bring you joy don’t do it – no compromising
• Really figure out what brings me joy? Flesh ideas out, have a clear idea of what community you want to be part of – when you see it on paper it makes it easier to commit
• Develop the philosophy “we can do what we love”
• Focus on what we are good at – times when work didn’t feel like work – end of work day we are looking forward to tomorrow
• Be specific about how much money you want to earn, how to structure time off
• Journal about the process – coaching, thoughts, feelings, outlet

Questions

1. What do you want to create?
2. What brings you joy?
3. What’s my role?
4. Who are my clients?
5. What type of contracts?
6. How will it be branded?

~ Future Forward

The Price We Pay For 'Being' is Suffering

Life is messy, or as Buddha said "life is suffering". One thing for sure is that life is full of obstacles and challenges, and in many ways that's what makes life intersting, multi-layered and provides depth.

Suffering is necessary, without lows we can not experience highs, our life experience becomes shallow and meangingless, the opposite of a rich full life.


Over the last 6 years I have suffered many losses which led to depression. Now that I am beginning to feel myself again. Unless you have experienced depression it is very difficult to comprehend the depths of despair it can take you. For me those moments could be summed up by two words 'fuck it'.

Unfortunately the 'fuck it' attitude led me to make decisions which in turn increased my depression, and resulting in a sense of being stuck. 'Fuck it' is giving up or a giving in when it comes to doing anything to help me climb out of the pit. For example; eating well and exercising. When you are depressed, and dealing with internal struggles, sometimes the only option feels like 'fuck it' because you simply don't have the strength to make things better. I see now how 'fuck it' trapped me in a cycle of self destructive behaviour.

I recently heard a fabulous program on CBC Radio called 'Say No To Happiness' I highly recommend having a listen.

Here are a few snippets which really resonated with me - (not quite verbatim, but close enough)

Happiness doesn't propel us forward, it does not create meaning and purpose. To open yourself up to happiness you have to also open yourself up to deep loss and sorrow. The purpose of life is not happiness, and this is in fact a relief. Life is complex, and tragic and difficult. The problem with the public portrayal of the ideal state of humanness as happiness, is that it makes people feel ashamed of their own suffering. If you are suffering and you find your life tragic in it's essence then that means that there is something wrong with them and this makes it impossible to for them to communicate anything real about their own tragedy.  

"If you are constantly in a state of placidity, satisfaction and happiness then nothing is going to affect you deeply enough; not your own suffering, not the suffering of others, not injustice, not the horrors of the world, then nothing is going to affect you deeply enough so that you become deep and life without depth is by definition shallow and meaningless, and the problem is that because life is tragic and involves suffering, if your philosophy is shallow and meaningless when you suffer you will become recently and hostile and self critical and then you will become cruel and destructive and so not only is there a necessity for your own mental health to forth rightly confront the deepest questions of life but if you don't you become a danger to yourself and more importantly to others."

At the end of the show they talk about the benefits of using your values as a compass to navigate through life, rather than happiness.

One way to examine your values is to find words which represent your consciousness, here are mine;

• Loving
• Kindness
• Compassion
• Courage
• Curiosity
• Complexity
• Childlike wonder
• Nature lover
• Humour

An excercise which can help you connect with you values is to list three people you admire. You don't need to know them, they don't even have to be real, they can be ficticious, superheros, animated characters. Once you have this write down some of the qualities that you like about these people. Often this list will mirror your own values - what we admire in others is actually what we admire about ourselves.

~ Future Forward 

Review of my 'Life Evolve Project' Plan

I started this blog in January 2012 with an intention of evolving my life or propelling my future forward. My original plan included 2 overall goals, some concepts to support these goals as well as my specific goals (below).

As with many aspects of my life, it seems to be my character to be over ambitious... I also faced several challanges - a shoulder injury hindered my exercise goals making it impossible to snowboard, swim or cycle for 3 months and my recurring depression sapped my motivation and energy. NOw that I've overcome these obsicles I am ready to pick up where I left off!

I've added a few notes below as I refect on each goal;

My specific goals are;

• Yoga daily at home daily +3 classes weekly
• I have started my daily practise at home but have not been to any classes yet. Living in an area filled with yogies I feel a little apprehensive about going to a class, it plays into my core beliefs around not fitting in and not being good enough.
• Meditate daily (increasing to 30m per day)
• I'll admit this practise has fallen by the wayside, I intend to start again.
• Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction & Relaxation Workshop (45m per day + weekly class)
• I completed this class and foudn it very helpful
• Writing daily - journal, reflections, Future Forward blog
• I have been writing but I would like to spend more time on this
• Reading daily, see reading list
• My focus and therefore reading list has changed, it now includes 3 books on writing, more on this later 
• Produce and show a Photography art project
• I still really want to do this and now have a clearer idea of what I want to produce and where to show it
• Create and share my 'Home History' art project
• I started this project and gained a great deal of insight into myself by going through the process, I no longer feel it is important but I plan to blog about my experience
• Walk 30+ minutes daily
• As an owner of a large dog this goal is never a problem
• Swim 3 x weekly
• I have started swimming again and my local outdoor pool is very close and almost warm enough!
• Snowboard regularly, improve switch and air skills
• Due to injury I didn't want to risk falling but I did manage 9 days on the mountain last season
• Bike to Granville Island, weekly
• I rode my bike for the first time in 3 years last week!!

My focus now is connecting with a career which is inline with my passions, values, and strengths. I plan to share my experience creating new career for myself in Communications.

Thanks for reading!

~ Future Forward

I'm Back!

Wow, what the heck happened?

Almost 3 months has gone by since I posted!

As we all know, especially in cases where denial is involved, it's possible for the days to turn into weeks, to turn into months, and if we aren't careful we're in our 80's wondering what the heck happened to our lives.

I've been thinking about Future Forward everyday. The main reason I've been hesitant to write again is because after my last post something magical started to happen... I started feeling less depressed!!

While this is great news of course, it became one of those situations where I didn't want to say the words for fear that it would all unravel. Like an artist who doesn't want to discuss their latest work for fear of jinxing it, I was afraid that if I wrote about feeling better that my depression would somehow come back.

But today I'm feeling brave so - since the middle of February my depression has pretty much disappeared. I appreciate that there are several factors which have contributed to this but it is such a relief that it still feels almost too good to be true.

Factors contributing to my reduced depression;

• Regular therapy sessions helped me to acknowledge and work through my problems and fears alleviating their hold on me and my moods.
• Regular exercise helped regulate my moods and increase my self worth, respect and esteem
• Daily meditation, mindfulness and/or active relaxation helped calm my mind, create balance and focus my efforts.
• Striving for wellness I got tested for std's, got my blood checked and got tested for food allergies. Keeping on top of my health is the kind of self care which helps me feel worthy.
• Resolving old disconnections through communication helped me let go of people and memories which were not serving me.
I feel less depressed partly because of my proactive efforts to fight for my happiness and that feels great.

Since I last wrote I have kept very busy moving home and working towards a new career.

Next post I'm going to review and revise my original goals and intentions when I began Future Forward.

Be kind to yourself.


~ Future Forward

Transforming???

The last 6 years have been particularly challenging, with many different types of loss, all of which have taken their toll. This last year I've been doing lot's of good, tough work with a therapist as well as making time to process a lot of emotional stuff on my own. It's provided mental space, some clarity and slowly my understanding and compassion flow.

Looking back at my life... My first 5 years were fairly stable, parents were together, lived in the same house, in London UK. Ages 5-18 I lived with my mom in Canada, we moved home almost annually and the environment was unstable and unconventional. My mom was into punk music, anarchy and worked in theatre; there were often 'colourful' characters around. My childhood was about as far from conservative, ordinary or normal as you can get.

Considering all this it's surprising that after graduating high school I decided to move to Oxford, UK complete two business degrees and get married, all by age 24. I had a very conservative job working for an international corporation and a 3 bedroom house, I worked hard to live up to what I perceived to be other people's expectations. After a seven year marriage, aged 31, I unintentionally began my transformation. I left my husband, moved back to Canada and...from there due to death in the family and life catching up with me, I stalled.

Now aged 37, I'm trying to pick up the pieces. I am becoming more aware of how I thought my main duty in life was to please people, particularly my family. I don't feel like I truly choose to go to university or get married, it was like I was in a dream or living on automatic. I didn't feel like I had options because I was so compelled to be accepted and loved by my family and I thought this was how I could achieve that. 

I feel very lucky to have had those opportunities and I enjoyed going to university and even being married, but they weren't the only options available and they weren't the best suited for me. In deciding to live my life for other people I lost myself.

My transformation is about healing what has passed, finding the real me that I lost along the way and becoming the woman I want to be. Right now I feel like I have a foot in both camps, the old me feels comfortable, reliable, familiar, the new me feels uncertain, fearful and alone. Transformations are tough because you have to have faith, you have to be able to believe in yourself and in the world around you. Without that there is no hope.

I miss the energy I get from being around other people, but during this intense time I find that being around others a little overwhelming. I've been isolating myself, I find it hard to have the courage to connect with people. I think its because during this transformation I feel ungrounded, dynamic maybe a little ethereal. In social settings people are driven to understand people, to see which box they fit in. I don't know what to tell people about who I am or what I do, it makes me anxious. I'm also scared of my core fears and beliefs coming up, if I hide away there is less chance of being rejected or not liked.

Maybe I need to work first on reconnecting with the true me by spending more time doing the things which make me happy and are aligned with my values and passions. Once I am more in touch with my true identity I will feel more grounded and able to go out into the world and connect with others.

Sounds like a plan!

~ Future Forward