My wonderful architect daughter, Alexa, loves all things sustainable.
She applied to work at only one firm in Philadlephia the Spring of her
graduating year, and was given a job there even before she graduated.
SMP is a small, tight-knit, open room firm (around 12). A few months
ago she was laid off. She stayed happy. She said she had so many
friends who had not even found work after school, and many others who
had lost theirs, that she had been curious what it felt like. “Now I
know.” She appreciated the free time to plan for her wedding.
Within a week she was loaned out to a large 200 person firm, on an
hourly basis, and ended up with lots of overtime and good money. One
of the partners heard her suggestions at meetings and took her under
his wing. However – the work itself was not inspiring to Alexa. It
felt boring. She was unhappy and this big company was old school,
non-sustainable, cubicle work. She felt surrounded by misery.
Yesterday she told me she had lost her will to live. She wanted to
give her two-week notice. I said – “Go for it”. I reminded that
everything is temporary, and that since her first job at 16, she has
always been able to get work. She is a money-making magnet. And I
started talking about how much good attention she had received through
her new boss – getting to have authority over people who had been
there much longer, how she was bold enough to ignore the “rules” about
telephones and emails while those around her felt robbed of their
freedom. I told her that since every moment was just another part of
her good, that it made sense to me that she enjoys a turn at being the
odd child in an old-man industry who shook things up a bit. I told her
that she carried joy with her. I suggested a list of positive aspects
in order to milk the situation of all its good before she left.
She called me this morning to tell me that as she walked out the door
to work this morning she told her fiancé about her list of positive
aspects. She intention was to ONLY appreciate her situation. When she
got to work, she received a call from SMP asking her if she would come
back. They had more work and they wanted her back on the Children’s
Zoo project. They were ready to give Ballinger “two-weeks notice” if
that was alright with her.
What a happy surprise! To just barely begin to appreciate things as
they are and the Universe give notice. Her boss at Ballinger
apologized that they hadn’t given her work that was more engaging. He
said that it “hurt” for her to leave, and that if she ever wanted a
job, it was hers. I know that this contact was only one part of the
wonderFUL and delightFUL dance of success that is my Alexa!
