Wednesday, June 1, 2011

20 Things I Did in 1 Week of Unemployment

(Or Welcome to My Neurosis)

1. On the first day, I decided I would spend the week wasting time, so I watched a netflix documentary, Dark Days (It was alright) and started reading the novel A Visit from the Goon Squad (also alright). I wore pajamas or a pajama-like outfit all day. I became aware that I might identify quite strongly with what I do, because I hated every second of this relaxation and felt like a schmuck (side note, I have not been officially unemployed since age 15). So, for the following days...

2. I made almost 30 artist trading cards using various techniques.







3. I decided to host a trading card swap with the theme "octopi."

4. I couldn't stand trying to relax and wait to job search anymore and resolved to send out 4 resumes per day before allowing myself to shower or get dressed.

5. After 1.5 days, I ran out of jobs I wanted, so now I just send to every new appropriate listing every morning and due to the holiday (I hope) it has been slim.

6. I worked in my yard: trimmed hedges, reseeded grass, planted flowers, planted seeds, planted an apple tree, mowed the lawn twice and removed a stump.

7. I "taught" my dogs to swim.

8. I made thank you cards for people I need to thank regarding graduation gifts. They look something like this:


They haven't been mailed yet though, because I don't have envelopes. That's on my list of to-dos today.

9. I started to clean my basement studio again, because it became a disaster since I last mentioned it.

10. I bought more $1 socks to use for creature-making. I also decided to try a sock idea I've had in mind for awhile, but it's really elaborate for socks, so I haven't wanted to go much further than imagining myself doing it yet.

11. I wondered if I should have been a social worker instead.

12. I spent $240 on the study guide for the LMHC exam (which is possibly the all time biggest waste of my money, because it is a stack of photocopies that appears to have been made and bound at Kinkos -- I just better kick-ass after studying it for 6 months is all I have to say).

13. I started working on a new sketchbook which I purchased from the Art House Co-op to go in the Sketch Book 2012 tour, because what do I need with all these journals and sketchbooks for anyway? I chose the theme, "Ask me how I can help," because it seemed most relevant to this period of my life. I am rebinding it with pages torn out of a children's anthology of stories. A blank spread looks like this:

The spread I am working on looks like this:

It opens horizontally. I plan to sew the pages in when it's complete.

14. I planned out reopening my etsy shop in my head.

15. I started reading Existential Art Therapy: The Canvas Mirror by Bruce Moon.

16. I printed the application for the LMHC exam.

17. I drove around with my top down.

18. I thought about what sort of artist I am and began to contemplate combining media (sewing and photography/print-making).

19. I contemplated researching book-binding techniques. Maybe that's a natural fit.

20. I got an appointment for my first interview and instantly felt a little better about not being a social worker!

This first interview is for working with adolescent boys, so in my next 2 posts, I plan to tell you what I have learned about working with adolescents and how I prepare for an interview. I am hoping to write something relevant for my fellow rookies.