MY LAST NAME
ORIGINALLY POSTED IN 2012 ON focusonsimple.co I'm getting married in about four months. + I'm keeping my last name. I may hyphenate, but that depends on how willing M is to discuss it. The less willing he is to discuss, the less willing I feel to compromise + hyphenate. The salient points are as follows: I'm not property +, from what I understand, women haven't been property for quite some timeIt's my name Yup, I think that about sums it up. Here's an interesting article. FOLLOW-UP LATER IN 2012 Without getting didactic up on my soapbox (I tend to get preachy + self-righteous as a sort of pre-emptive defense mechanicsm)...I know that whether women keep their last name or change to their future-husband's can be a particularly touchy subject...I need to remember…
ENDING / BEGINNING
ORIGINALLY POSTED IN 2012 ON focusonsimple.co I just got laid off. The firm has to make cut backs + because my particular skills aren't in demand right now, I've been let go. The way I see it, it's a big blow to one's ego...potentially incredibly stressful, financially...but the thing I've been trying to focus on, is the new possibility for amazing opportunity. The question is what can be done with this opportunity. My husband + I have already started making a few connections for some possible projects. + we need to take it one day at a time. But, if we play things smart + sensible, we could be in a better place then we were before I got laid-off. I'm looking forward to that first non-work weekday morning when…
REFLECTION
ORIGINALLY POSTED IN 2012 ON focusonsimple.co A bursary essay from 2008. "A mirror should reflect a little, before throwing back images" - Jean Cocteau Jean Cocteau, as a celebrated French surrealist writer and artist, used the mirror as a symbol of a door into another world, throughout his creative life (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/cocteau.htm). His quote "A mirror should reflect a little, before throwing back images" plays on the word 'reflect' as both the purpose of a mirror to reflect an image and as the state one is in while contemplating. In turn, this lends a multitude of layers into the meaning one can take from this phrase. Initially it seems Cocteau is stating that one should spend time thinking before acting; that there is a process that needs to happen before an end product can be arrived…
THERE IS NO SHAME IN FAILURE
ORIGINALLY POSTED IN 2012 ON focusonsimple.co Once upon a time, I found myself "unemployed" for about two months. I had been supplementing my EI "income" with some contract work. A few short stints with my former employer, the start of a new part-time gig, + a nice little piece of work for a larger client which I got hooked up with through my former employer... Well, one day I had a meeting with the client + found that we were totally not on the same page in terms of understanding the scope of work, despite having sent a list of deliverables I would commit to at the outset of the project. The meeting was such a waste of time for both of us. I'm fairly certain we both left feeling frustrated and disappointed. + on…