I SYNC: therefore I am...

Remember how I said that it was my intent to blog about being a college graduate?  Well I must admit that being fortunate enough to become on of those recent grads who quickly found a job means that I have dropped the ball regarding my personal social media obligations.  But I assure you; I HAVE been up to some good stuff.

Starting with the first little tidbit of Good News:

I found a job!  

Evidently all of that hard work and real-time networking paid off.  I was fortunate enough to get hired at my alma mater as an administrative assistant in our department of Athletics.  Which is great, because when I received an email telling me that the position was filled I was certain that any candidate who beat me for the position would have had to have been exceptionally qualified.

I should probably warn you that my job has absolutely nothing to do with my degree. But my ability to research quickly using online applications like Google, Youtube & Wikipedia helped me brush up on the basics of the work I'd be doing prior to the skills assessment testing I had to take before my interview.  Critical thinking resources I learned to utilize while trying to crank out assignments for the courses I may not have been as emotionally attached to while I struggled to find time to pursue my real interests while finishing my degree.  Never underestimate the power of an electronic document and the ctrl-F feature.  For without these I may have never obtained my degree.

In an attempt to take my job seeking a little more seriously, I quickly amped up my Linkedin Profile and strategically keyword optimized it in order to better leverage my own personal brand.  What do all of those fancy words mean?

Well let's start with Linkedin

Linked in is AWESOME!!!

Seriously, where else can you connect with millions of people in your field of interest and collaborate professionally to help you find work that you love doing?!  Okay, there's always Facebook and Real Life, but where can you do that without spam or money?  The downside is that you DO have to know somebody, and I got into a little bit of trouble with the platform about adding people I didn't know.  But who cares, for anyone who is looking for a job who isn't already ridiculously well connected, having a completed Linkedin account is a necessity.  I'm saying this as someone who probably IS one of those people and I STILL understand the importance of using this thing.

Should College Students and Recent Grads Use LinkedIn?

The answer is an unqualified “yes.” LinkedIn is a powerful tool that can help you make the transition from college student to working professional. While Facebook helps you stay in touch and share your life with family and friends, LinkedIn helps you meet people in your field, connect professionally with fellow alumni, and create a personal brand. LinkedIn is a must for anyone who is serious about job hunting, career planning and networking with people who can assist you as you build a successful professional life.

Personal Branding

Sally Hogshead wrote a fantastic book called Fascinate that talks about why we find people fascinating and what psychological triggers they employ that make them stand out in our mind over other people.  What do people think when they think of you?  Or more importantly, what are you communicating to potential employers?

Dan Schawbel in his article Personal Branding 101 shares that

The single biggest mistake people make is that they either brand themselves just for the sake of doing it or that they fail to invest time in learning about what’s in their best interests. The key to success, and this isn’t revolutionary, is to be compensated based on your passion. In order to find your passion, you need a lot of time to think, some luck and you need to do some research online to figure out what’s out there.

Brand discovery is about figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life, setting goals, writing down a mission, vision and personal brand statement (what you do and who you serve), as well as creating a development plan. Have you ever been called intelligent or humorous by your peers or coworkers? That description is part of your brand, especially if you feel those attributed pertain to you. To know if you’ve discovered your brand, you need to make this equation equal:

In short your personal brand should ensure that the messages you communicate through your resume, appearance, professional affiliations and so forth illustrate an alignment where

Your self-impression = How people perceive you

Who are the top innovators in your field? What makes them distinctive?  Are their idiots in the field who seem to be doing much better than you?  You may think it's the money, or access to people already in the industry, but it's possible that the only reason you haven't gotten where they are is because you haven't communicated your strongest attributes to your employers.  This could mean that you need to find better ways to keyword optimize your professional experience, play up your strengths, or revamp your image.  When marketing yourself to a prospective employer, sell yourself the way that you would market yourself to a potential client.  And you may need to read up on the basics of marking, sales and public relations in order to really understand how to get others to see more of your better attributes.

Starting today you are a brand.

You're every bit as much a brand as Nike, Coke, Pepsi, or the Body Shop. To start thinking like your own favorite brand manager, ask yourself the same question the brand managers at Nike, Coke, Pepsi, or the Body Shop ask themselves: What is it that my product or service does that makes it different? Give yourself the traditional 15-words-or-less contest challenge. Take the time to write down your answer. And then take the time to read it. Several times.

If your answer wouldn't light up the eyes of a prospective client or command a vote of confidence from a satisfied past client, or -- worst of all -- if it doesn't grab you, then you've got a big problem. It's time to give some serious thought and even more serious effort to imagining and developing yourself as a brand.
Start by identifying the qualities or characteristics that make you distinctive from your competitors -- or your colleagues. What have you done lately -- this week -- to make yourself stand out? What would your colleagues or your customers say is your greatest and clearest strength? Your most noteworthy (as in, worthy of note) personal trait?

Keyword Optimization of Your Online Resume

How you optimize your personal brand communicates how you add value to your field and the company culture

Is your resume SEO friendly?  That is, how easy is it to find on websites?  Hogshead mentions how something as simple as using a unique middle name for generic names make it easier for employers to find you during employment searches.  The same can be done to your resume to make it easier to find for potential recruiters.  A lot of HR directors will look for tags or specific keywords in order to find job candidates that match their job descriptions, so keyword optimizing your resume to match these targets, especially when you know very little about your employment options can be very useful.

Keywords and phrases reflect skills and experience necessary for the type of position and industry you are targeting. While an effective resume will include action verbs (e.g., develop, negotiate, analyze) for a human reviewer, keywords and phrases will play a crucial role when technology is used to select candidates.

 If you want an example of what a keyword optimized resume looks like, I'd encourage you to go onto Linkedin and look at how other job candidates in your field (or other high profile positions) keyword optimize their profile to leverage their resumes to get noticed.  I remember the first time I tried this exercise, I looked through the profile descriptions of the 1st and 2nd degree connections of my best networked connections and wrote down really great keyword phrases down on post it notes.  I distinctly remember thinking at one point:

hmmm...Strategic Development Coordinator and Operations Research Field Analyst; I don't have any clue what that person does, but THAT sounds INCREDIBLE!

For all I know that guy could have been in charge of ordering and stocking toilet paper rolls at Arby's.  Which brings me to my next note of caution: if you don't know what something means; google it.  Google your current job description and previous job duties for keywords.  You may know how to do things that you didn't even realize that there were keywords for.  But also Google these words to make sure that you haven't put something on your resume that isn't honest.  For example, as an employer, if someone submits a resume saying that they have experience as an operations research field analyst or strategic management, I'm going to have numerous questions in the interview about the work they did, and how they used those core competencies to develop specific projects.  So you better know the lingo and all of the work that goes into the work that you say you know how to do.  You also better be able to back up your resume with stories regarding specific experience.  Gains, losses, etc.  Your employers are going to want to know how you plan, how you implement strategies as well as how well you rebound from setbacks.  So keep that in mind when the time comes for the interview.

When I train my student workers; for every skill they learn, I provide background info about what kind of work they are doing, how it relates to their job description and how the specific applications can be used to enhance keywords on their resume.  They are also evaluated on flexibility in the workplace by requiring them to search for things that they don't know how to do online, construct their own tutorials, or if they must ask, do so using corporate or industry related buzzwords, to help them develop their oral communication proficiency.  They met me with a little bit of resistance at first, but now it's become a wonderful way to teach them valid skills as well as incorporate a little bit of play into the work environment.

For more info about today's topics, be sure to check out these articles for more info about:

Getting started on Linkedin

9 Linkedin Tips for College Grads
5 Linkedin Tips for Recent Grads
Getting Stated with Linkedin as a Recent Graduate

Personal branding
Personal Branding 101: How to Discover and Create your Brand
The 3 Rules of Personal Branding
When your Personal Brand Outshines your Corporate Brand
The Brand called You

Keyword Optimization
A Resume Writing Strategy that Makes a Difference
SEO your resume
Optimize your Resume with Keywords
Keyword Optimize your Resume
Resume Writing Resources and Tips: Leveraging Keywords to Get your Resume the Attention it Deserves

Who took the farm out of farming?

Ahh, the ole head scratcher!  During a recent job interview, I was asked, "what does a hydroponic research technician even do?"  Well, in my case, I researched vertical drip irrigation systems and then attempted to tackle Britta Riley's neat little project the hydroponic window farm.  I liked the idea of the project because it forced me to really make use of reclaimed resources.  As you can see from the installation here, my window farm was made from reclaimed materials.  I promptly enrolled into a woodworking class afterward.  But I learned a lot about the limitations about using partially decayed materials, but also the potential it can have if you use the material properties with it.

One of the cute little finishing touches were the old rusted out bicycles gears I reclaimed from our local bicycle fix-it shop.

For this particular project, I also researched the prevalence of local food markets and how the ability to grow vegetables in areas designated as food deserts impacted the economic recovery in areas with community growing projects and local farmers markets.  Interestingly enough, the areas with the highest concentration of Walmarts and McDonalds correlated with the highest density of economic hardship and per capita poverty.

Sadly, the window farm was tampered with during the summer I did a semester long program and a new pump was never ordered.  But we did manage to grow quite a few local greens and peas with the help of my good friend and horticulturalist, Jennifer Boyle. 

 

I absolutely LOVE this site!  It's impossible to stay discouraged when you have access to this awesome page.  I wish they had a way for me to reblog their posts because they are ABSOLUTELY wonderful -- and oddly enough very timely!  If you haven't had the opportunity, be sure to check out the daily truths & inspirations from their segment "A Little Bird Told Me" from the Brave Girl's Club

Failure to Launch...

"whaaaat! you mean after 4 years of college, plus that other two years of college, 51.75 credits, 1320 hours of labor (just from berea), 55 convocations, 5 clubs, 4 honor societies, 1 city commission, 3 university governance committees, and 2 student government assemblies ya'll are just going to hand me this degree? uh oh! somebody must have slipped up! ...lOl." ...but seriously, even though it took me 12 years to graduate i'm incredibly grateful for the education that i received at Berea College, Ecosa Institute and Michigan State University - SPARTANS. Thank you so much to the three of these institutions for the valuable education as well as the degree! : )

That's right.... THIS girl FINALLY graduated from College! = )

Now that I've had a good month or so to recharge and eradicate some of those end of the semester college behaviors: (e.g. frantic work-a-holism, untidy living space, and diet of processed foods, etc.) I have begun to work upon taking the next toward finding work. I lucked out and happen to be in a unique position where I am house-sitting for some administrators on sabbatical, which gives me the freedom to sort out and list my expectations for the next step in life. And it's been good. I know that had I rushed to try and find a job during the hectic time we're all faced at by the end of senior year; it would just have been a disaster. But we'll get into that some other time.  It occurred to me that since there seemed to be a recent trend of graduates who were having difficulty finding employment, and all of the websites I consulted about freelance work for public relations professionals suggested that I blog what I'm an expert about, I thought that I'd blog about this.  You want to know what it's like for a recent college graduate to find work, then I thought I'd just give a few highlights of how my own personal journey works out, complete with implementation strategies for job seeking and so on...

I'll try to include little tidbits about my background as well, so you can see how that may or may not impact my capacity to find, or create work.  Hopefully, now that I no longer have a boyfriend to invest all my time writing "Dear John" letters to, I will be able to remain consistent with it.  But enough about that.

Are you intrigued yet?  You should be.

There's a lot of info embedded into my personal story that may or may not leak out, which you may find utterly captivating.  But I didn't want to provide too much info too soon because I want you to take me seriously.  Is it weird that this is where the beginning ends up?  Didn't we all go to college so that we could finally be taken seriously?  I was kind of a late bloomer and didn't realize until it was too late that I was walking out of one form of institutionalization into another form, when all I really wanted to do was develop technical proficiency and learn to replicate work that I found inspiring and innovate.  But sometimes life can have other plans...

Anyhoo, enough of my cryptic rants.

I spent day 1 of the "actively seeking employment" process trying to identify jobs within walking distance of where I live.  I don't have a car and in order to save up for a car I'd need some source of income.  I applied to work at the college since I'm still in the town where I went to school, but I received that crushing email a couple of days ago telling me that the position had been filled.  I looked on the staff vacancies page in order to see if I could find another position that would fit my desire to learn as I work and meet the requirements I would need to have some kind of a respectable work/life balance.  I noticed that the site had a vacancy posted that was similar to what I'd applied for; administrative assistant position.  But after I read the position for the evening coordinator position I realized that I was probably less suited for this position because the night shift required that I have pool maintenance experience, which admittedly I just don't have.

It was very tragic.  : )  I was really looking forward to getting that job.  Event planning, coordinating logistics, keeping detailed spreadsheets of budgets, integrating new task management software, and cloud sourcing the student scheduling were all areas that I would have been proficient in.  I also had much higher administrative skills assessment scores than most of the other applicants.  In fact I was told that I was 1 of only 5 applicants out of the broad number who applied to be interviewed, so although I was crushed not to get the coveted 8-5 office position, I certainly could not take the rejection personally.  As incredible as my resume was and how smoothly the interview went; I knew half of the interviewers and had done some exceptional work with them before, and I had prior experience in public relations, marketing and sales as well as working for an athletic facility.  So I understood that if they didn't select me for the position, it wouldn't be because I wasn't qualified to perform the job, it was because someone else who applied the position must have blown them away. 

After receiving the email informing me that I didn't get the position, I contemplated whether it would be prudent to reapply for the evening position.  This was partly because the realistic part of me worried that they might question my judgment, but the optimistic part of me wanted to believe that I might just be able to convince them that I had such a strong work ethic and commitment toward good sportsmanship and my work ethic that I could objectively put the prior rejection aside.  And either way I was prepared to sell myself as a person of strong moral character.  I was going to have to be really sincere about it.  Oddly enough, the dis qualifiers in the second listing kind of came as a relief.  I was in the process of working out whether I would genuinely be able to set the prior oversight aside and after much prayer I rationalized the hell out of going for it again.  I've since rationalized that I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity not to potentially make an ass out of myself, even though I am just slightly bummed I didn't get a chance to go for the position again.      

"Fall down seven times, get up eight"

~Japanese Proverb

So after a dear friend of mine and beloved barista talked me out of applying as a bus boy position just to have some revenue coming in, stating; "it will suffocate your soul..." I checked my bank balance to make sure that I had enough savings to cover my bills for the upcoming month (approx. $60 in utilities and $30 for a pre-paid phone bill).   Then I spent today going through the local chamber of commerce directory to see which jobs might have the kind of work experience I might be interested in, if I were working as a co op or externship so that I could modify and customize my cover letters.  I also bookmarked the Americorp site in case any of these potential employers might be persuaded to create an americorp position if they like my work and want to keep me around at minimal risk.  I mean I really don't need much to live, at least until the fall anyway.  I have veggies growing in the garden and I am a phenomenal shoe-string foodie and cook; perhaps I'll post pics of some of my summer meals later.  I just need enough to sustain my Ale 8 habit and occasionally buy medication which costs me $40 a month.

Ideally I'd like to be able to save up enough to pay back my student loans or pay a deposit and traveling expenses if it turns out that at some point I need to leave.  But that's it.  My clothes, although professional come from clothing swaps and thrift stores.  With my medication I'm no longer allowed to drink beer (I know, sad day).  So right now, I live simply enough that don't really need all that much. 

But unfortunately because I haven't really set any standards for what I want to aspire toward, aside the whole work/life balance thing, I have way too many options and also NO options.  If I'm willing to relocate, the world becomes my oyster.  But I must admit that after spending 4 years running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and spreading myself thin, running clubs, carrying study groups, supervising students, and eeking out innovative and cutting edge research and design projects, I am having to relearn how to function without the college... I am learning how to chart a course without an already established list of responsibilities or predetermined roles.  I have been trained to be a worker, to follow orders, to strategically plan and carry out functions, but I have not been taught how to find the kind of jobs that are going to value what I have to offer, which kind of freaks me out.  What am I, if not a work horse?

I spent the first month after graduation just trying to figure that out.  I learned a lot during that process of emptying myself of all of those preconceived notions of what others think I should be.  But what I realized afterward, is that as much as I enjoyed taking that much needed break, I knew that I needed to have a stronger understanding of that so I would know how to sell myself to take on my new roles.  But what is my new role?  And this is where the job search comes in...

One of the two major things that I'd been doing to pass the time here is that I started the ONE service project I am giving myself permission to take on.  It's called called the Yellow Ribbon Project that I'm using as a research platform to develop a self help resource guide for vets.

I'm using this project to learn more about social media marketing strategy so that I can learn how to build an effective brand. I have other reasons for doing it, which I find to be more important, but I don't know that I'm ready to discuss those reasons here... well at least not just yet.  ; )

Interestingly enough, this project has taught me some really valuable principles that I hope will prove helpful during my job search.  The first little helpful bit of advice that really resonated from my work online was this:

|  Job search tip no. 1 comes from Simon Chan: "DON'T BE A PERFECTIONIST - Don't let the quest for Perfection lead to inactivity. Just Do It and the lessons you learn from your mistakes will allow you to make the next version way better than if you sat there trying to make it perfect the first time... " - Simon Chan

Higher Awareness Tip of the Day

“The law of abundance is that everything replicates after its own kind. Like is attracted to like. If you want more wealth, concentrate of wealth; think thoughts of abundance and wealth.”

-- Delfin Knowledge System

How to Best Approach Anxiety Stress Relief

Source: EHOW

By Jin Li

Anxiety stress relief can help many people with excessive tension in their daily lives. With the globalization and intense work environments, many people experience overwhelming pressure both in their work and personal lives. It can damage us in so many ways physically and emotionally. Physically, it weakens our immune system and make us prone to many diseases. Emotionally, it pressures our minds and make us very tired to carry on our daily routine. Anxiety stress relief techniques can help us cope better with intense pressures.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   One of the best anxiety stress relief techniques is to talk to an understanding friend about your stress and anxiety. When people tell someone about their difficult situation, it will automatically relieve some of their stress. It is just the way our body works. That's the reason why woman cope with stress better than man. They are better at communicating their problems.

2. Step 2

   Another anxiety stress relief technique is to have a pet. According to the experts, people that have pets are happier and deal with stressful situations better than those without. Animals are our best friends indeed.

3. Step 3

   One anxiety stress relief technique that is widely used by women: retail therapy. Although shopping relieves our stress, we shouldn't do it too often because spending money on a routine basis is bad for our finances and retirement.

4. Step 4

   Another anxiety stress relief technique is by relaxing your body. Take a hot shower will help relax those tense muscles and help you fall asleep better. Right before going to bed, sit in your chair and listen to some calming music. It will help put your body in a sleeping mode.

5. Step 5

   Manage your stress by regularly exercising. Take a yoga class at your local gym to help your body anxiety stress relief.

"Being poor is a frame of mind."

-- Mike Todd

Daily Stress From Your Work Routine

Source: Work Place Stress

How much Daily Stress From Your Work Routine
do you have?

When you go to work do you run, run, run and seem to
get little done with only a headache or sore muscles
at the end of the day?

Your work routine may be causing you unnecessary
Stress. Here are a few things to help with the stress.

Schedule your work routine with a break so you can
relax and get refreshed, then return to work with a
fresh, relaxed mind. You don’t need an hour or two,
just take a few minutes through out the day to relieve
your Stress.

Have you ever noticed that when you are in a time
crunch your mind fills up with racing thoughts and it
gets harder to think clearly?

Information overload is the cause, your brain can only
work on one thing at a time and you are trying to work
and also keep track of the time. To break the habit of
always working in a time crunch, break down large
tasks into smaller manageable steps with a short break
between each step..

If you can’t break the task down try to do the task
early in the day while you are still relaxed and your
mind is uncluttered. Then when you need a break do a
small easy or repetitive task that will rest your mind
from heavy thinking before returning to the big task.

Sometimes a small change in your routine will yield
big benefits at the end of the day. Daily Stress from
Your Work Routine can be stop with a little planning
and a few rest breaks during the day.

I've been working on it. Trying to be more positive. There's still a little bit of backlash from my crash earlier this week. I failed a calculus quiz. But I worked so damn hard at it I think my professor felt sorry for me. He said that those who had good class attendance would get their lowest quiz and exam grades dropped. Good thing I kept going instead of hiding in my room all day, eh? Honestly, the thought crossed my mind. I even found myself thinking of just skipping town and going on a bender, which is odd only because I haven't done anything that reckless in 10 years. I'm getting closer to being caught up. And by getting closer I mean that my iscrybe is packed to the gills with scheduling. if you saw my schedule you'd want to cry. i mean it isn't even realistic, and I've dropped everything extracurricular that isn't mandatory... part of where the panic came from. I'm going to have to redefine me time to simply getting all of these assignments sorted out with a hot cup of tea (no chamomile, no refined sugar, no caffeine) and if I'm lucky, perhaps I can play a movie in the background during one of my assignments that doesn't take as much concentration. Like my oral presentation that I have to give on Tuesday on Origen of Alexander. I was fortunate to have been wise enough to compile 10 pages of info on him with the corresponding websites last week. I couldn't tell you where my partner went. Honestly, I think he fell off the wagon... which I prepared myself for.

Last night was a weird night. It seemed that just as I was saddling up again, other people were descending into their 1st round of mid semester breakdowns. Or preparing themselves. When the library closed (...I've been studying with the Africans and Tibetans to compensate for the TA thing because they're patient and they're good at math. But I don't want to wear out my welcome. They're only helping me to be kind...) I headed over to the cafe to do some chemistry, because I didn't trust myself to be in my room alone, and my RA was pretty shaken up because they'd killed George off of Grey's anatomy (which I definitely didn't see coming) and cranked out some of THE most focused and productive studying I've done. It did not help me have a clue what was going on during this afternoon's Chemistry quiz. It was quite simply the wording, and the fact that I have no way of keeping up with what's being said as I write it down. I've identified one source of the problem. Actually I encountered it first when I was assigned to cover a convocation on the spot ( I wasn't even on the clock, nor did I have my equipment and my supervisor was being a jerk about it because I didn't just flat out say no... we won't go into that one).... but as I'm sitting there anxiety ridden, pissed because the request was not only unreasonable as I had no time to prepare, but also because the convocations are literally the only time I get to space out for a second... to just stop. When I say I have no free time, I literally have no free time. Save the 20 minutes I allot myself to throw these posts up (which accounts for the bulk of the grammatical errors).

Plus the guy was my friend and instead of upsetting him, I simply shut down and I guess he called himself flagging me down afterward while a friend of mine was talking me out of an anxiety attack and he overheard the parts I said, not about him as a person, but about the request being unreasonable. So now I have that on the brain as well. So yes, on paper everything is a total train wreck. And I have to crash for an hour or two just to create more hours in the day... well and to move forward from whatever the previous fiasco was at the time. But I got everything done that I could possibly do. But it wasn't good enough. And that hurts. I think that's what I've been dwelling on and it's stripping away my ability to focus upon the broader spectrum.

While I was updating my schedule on iscrybe I stumbled across my yearly goals on the thoughtpad and I've accomplished everything this year I've set out to do except I regressed on the negativity part and that has only been out of panic. Verbally I'm no Debbie downer, but mentally Debbie Downer needs to be shut down. I think that was the only part of my healing process that I didn't have mapped out was how to integrate positive response to challenges into my routine. Repetitive motion leads imprints in our habits, in our neural networks and in our DNA. Things I used to do before I became ravaged of time that rejuvenated me were:

repetitive motion activities:

• drumming
• poetry
• macrame
• mandala pics
• daily routines (like eating meals at specific times, or going to bed or exercising repeatedly)
• running
• meditating
• word games and puzzles: like anagrams, and cryptograms
• cooking
• washing dishes (I have Thich Nhat Hanh to thank for that one, because I used to not care for it very much.
• rafting
• hiking
• blowing bubbles ( I think it's associated with breath control as well as the motion)
• Typography
• Reading EcoTech & Innovative Design articles (my mind unfolds as I try to study how the pieces were constructed)
• I loved good wine (reading about it, pairing it with food, the aroma of it, swirling the glass)
• Yoga & Pilates
  

I could keep going on, but I haven't found that any of those activities work in the middle of class when I get a test back that I've failed, or better yet keep me calm while I try to make sense of what is on the test. But on my own I do remarkably well once I've been shown the correct way to do it. I'm like an elephant, but I'm very thorough. I need to really understand it if I am to remember it and sometimes the pace is a bit too much for me, especially since everyone seems to be moving at that pace and taking my out of class time too. I have to fabricate study time by altering my sleep schedule which is just (marginally healthy because I do make sure I sleep) but my REM cycle is only for a few hours at a time and I know I'm going to pay for it eventually.

Starting a meditation practice

All you need to start meditating are:

• A quiet environment. Choose a secluded place in your home, office, garden, place of worship, or in the great outdoors where you can relax without distractions or interruptions.
• A comfortable position. Get comfortable, but avoid lying down as this may lead to you falling asleep. Sit up with your spine straight, either in a chair or on the floor. You can also try a cross-legged or lotus position.
• A point of focus. Pick a meaningful word or phrase and repeat it throughout your session. You may also choose to focus on an object in your surroundings to enhance your concentration, or alternately, you can close your eyes.
• An observant, noncritical attitude. Don’t worry about distracting thoughts that go through your mind or about how well you’re doing. If thoughts intrude during your relaxation session, don’t fight them. Instead, gently turn your attention back to your point of focus.

The biggest things that are advocated for stress relief are mediation, mindful eating and exercise. I've only got time to do one of these things despite my better attempts to do the others. I started back exercising this morning and it helped for a bit. It's been to rainy to run outside, and it's about to get cold so I just ran the stairwell to my suite up and down a few flights. I think I did it about 8 or 9 times until I build up a sweat to see if I could expel some toxins. I got my music back. Youtube was being a bit tricky on me and wouldn't let me search through the playlists. I listed it on my other site so I wouldn't lose it again. Also, the Complete Idiots Guide to campus safety lists some good tips on page 209 (see ebook here) but the timing for our workloads may not always be feasible. meh! i suppose a person can only do so much, eh?

Fighting with Mutants

“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.”

--Carl Gustav Jung

I was thinking about this quote i scribbled down last night that says that "Buried destructive feelings or thoughts become destructive cell memories causing devastating sickness and diseases. The longer they are allowed to stay, the more serious they will hurt you and it will be harder to release them." I fell back into a very scary pattern this week. I didn't give up, but I definitely gave up faith in other people. I don't think it's a bad thing, but it's the way I approach the attitudes that reflect my realities that is ultimately going to make or break me. My apocolyptic vision of the entities that I've externally focused upon are not going to make me any more willing to be persistent through these disillusioning times. In fact, all of this doom and gloom has crippled is reflected by a culture that has nothing to do with what I eat, or my gender, or economic issues or the color of my skin. It has to do with the second I panic because I've stopped believing in something outside of myself, the higher the likelihood is that I will continue to feed my own destructive thoughts. I should have instead just rolled with it, only I found myself in the compromised position of resentfully having to discern how to do the right thing. It's compulsive, because I get myself into a lot of hairy situations and it is the one thing I can cling to some days. I tried to challenge that this week with the idea, that I'm being too hard on myself and I needed to allow myself to be human. But the people who told me that were wrong, because they define their humanity by their ability to become entitled to make mistakes regardless of the cost to themselves or other people. It's a very old message given to me by people who are no longer in my life for a reason.

But I define my sense of humanity by cultivating my ability to cognitively create and express the will to nobly create an existence among those with whom I connect... and nurture the will and build the ability of those in my community to see their own sense of worth so that they can see the strength and benefit of those values as they compassionately strive to seek to eradicate the suffering of others inflicted by those too weak to sustain themselves.

last night's FB status after crashing long enough to gain the will to saddle up again

PhiG has learned that sometimes it takes a breakdown to show us where we need to build strength. but it's far more productive to prevent such drama with appropriate levels of preparation.

It started with a cigarette. I had my first unshakable anxiety attack. It was calculus and all of the people who promised to help me were nowhere to be found. My options were to go to the TA... whose presence is a major trigger of anxiety for me... yet another thing that must be worked through, or find someone.... and I mean ANYONE else. (Long story that can't be shared). Anyway I'd been working on three calculus problems for about a week and had already passed the extension deadline to turn the work in. So at about 11pm I broke down, scribbled the problems down and headed off to the cafe for help. [A word about the cafe... People who barely pass classes study at the cafe. Those who attempt to study at the cafe either get distracted enough to learn not to go there because it yields completely useless efforts to get work done, or

I'm not a destructive person, but I'm still working through some very limiting beliefs. I'm positive that running helps. That night I hadn't and I really needed to focus upon getting the answers I needed. As predicted, there was none to be found and I was beginning to panic. So I did what is admittedly the last thing I probably should have done, but the one thing that would have given me the level of focus and chemical stimulation to stay awake. Evidently you can't smoke and be vegan and have things cancel out. The chemicals hit you harder because there's nothing in your system to counterbalance it. It's all been broken down and absorbed for nutrients, except the fiber, which is useless. (well I take that back. it helps you poop). so the chemicals simply oxidize into free radicals. And as the panic builds, so does the adrenaline in my system. So all of the antioxidants I eat are reconverting the oxidized adrenaline (adrenochrome) so that I'm not totally freaking out. But it does nothing to prevent oxidative stress, which actually damages and mutates my DNA.

That means that every time I fuel my negativity with panic, stress, negativity, I am literally imprinting my DNA to produce cells that trigger a fight or flight response, and when I break down (usually I just shut down out of determination to do neither.) I am actually winning that battle, but creating another. And the older I get, and the longer I get used to this pattern of anxiety and panic, the more that gets imprinted onto my DNA, because that's the history recorded there. [You read enough research journals and looking at the pictures that pertain to your medical condition, you're bound to piece everything together. I should have a master's in research]. What I have not figured out yet is what is being done practically to definitely prevent the oxidative stress, short of simplify my life. And so college has become both my greatest gift and biggest debilitation. Which is unfortunate, because I have a great aptitude for it when the resources are there for me to do well.

At 11pm the resources are kind of scarce. I was thinking they should have a branch of medicine that is just simply for the people who hate wasting time in the shrink's office where they can go and peruse the medical and research journals to understand the science of what is happening to them and researched treatments. I know the resources are out there, but it takes time to sift through abstracts and for terminology, and to reinterpret the terminology so that you understand it, and have enough information to match your own biorhythms to try to determine what works well for you. The vegan thing, the one thing that ensures that I am routinely monitoring all of that (you can feel every change in your body related to what you put in it when you don't have an intestine full of rotting carcass) and it has made such a difference in my ability to rebound. But there are many components to it; food sequencing, combination, exercise (which is where I dropped the ball this week) and research on not just the science, but the cognition and clarity that are most beneficial to granting me the resilience to carry forward. (It's a good sign I'm doing much better when I have the ability to construct hair brained ideas). A friend of mine, actually a friend to one of the administrators to whom I'm indebted for the kelp and barley supplements he gave me, told me something funny that I decided to take with a grain of salt, but now I'm going to have to really consider what he told me.



He said to me, "doctors don't know sh*t anymore." I thought that was just at the facilities for people who don't have insurance, but maybe they've lowered the standards because the demand for them has gotten so great. When I think of my last few doctors visits, I've simply been prescribed antipsychotics and home remedies. The last doctor didn't even know what neuroleptic malignant syndrome was but she was quick to dispense me boxes full of medication. There does seem to be a growing trend in this country for the pharmaceutical companies to define new illnesses that they supply the treatments for. ( ie ADHD, bipolar, restless legs syndrome, PMDD) and I question anything that is diagnosed that doesn't have any tangible measurable symptoms. It's like the food industry being controlled by the people who have gentically modified the food to be chemical filled and stripped of all the nutrients. If you can't afford to have food flown in from someplace virgin and exotic, then you're probably buying into that system. (another great incentive to stick with fresh locally grown veg... because at least you have an idea of what's in it) Hell, I got diagnosed with a couple of disorders and dispensed medications that almost killed me (on separate occasions) without having even seen a doctor. Ironically, I'd never had the symptoms until my mom's quack of a doctor prescribed me something without knowing anything about me. Then I just tripped a little bit further down the rabbit hole.

It has taken me tremendous persistence and a commitment to healing to even get this far, but without sufficient resources I will continue to find myself in the position of being at the mercy of those who are inadequately equipped or disinterested in looking out for the interest of people like me. They are all slaves to their own ignorance, I would like to think not intentionally, but the disadvantage of being aware of more than the other guy is that at the end of the day, you get stuck with the burden either way of accepting it, fighting, or working to educate the other guy... and some people prefer the convenience of their own

“There is a particular kind of pain, elation, loneliness, and terror involved in this kind of madness. When you're high it's tremendous. The ideas and feelings are fast and frequent like shooting stars...But, somewhere, this changes. The fast ideas are far too faast, and there are far too many; overwhelming confusion replaces clarity. Everything previously moving with the grain is now against-you are irritable, angry, frightened, uncontrollable...It will never end, for madness carves its own reality.”

--Kay Jamison

I've been considering this quote for a while and I realize it can be interpreted in many contexts. Especially for me. I just remind myself that this inner struggle has forced me to constantly strive for balance in what can seem like a crazy world. If I hadn't have found a community of people who shared my values I would probably question my own beliefs, but it appears that every day people are becoming more conscientious. But we are not the majority, nor will we be for a long time. So I should just embrace those who are a little more fully. I'm so freaked out about raising alarm in the status quo that I've become dependent upon those who are incapable of aiding me, and if we look around and look at the state of things, I should have realized a long time that it's useless to depend upon people who don't even care to take care of themselves. (Like actually take care of themselves... their health, resilience, etc. ) I used to think I was growing into the person I'd always aspired to be, but perhaps all of this adversity has simply mutated me that way. If that's the case I know now which areas to build to regain my sense of fulfillment and it certainly isn't tied up into other apathetic human beings. Lesson learned.

Dealing with Anxiety

Overcoming Negativity

Man, did I need this reminder. I've been a little bit off the past few days. I had a little bit of a relapse today... evidently repression is a major factor of it. I'd be glad to hear of any other activities that would be helpful. I made some alterations in my diet this week trying to use what I had to save time, and as well meaning as it was, it was not a good call. Hopefully I can restore some balance soon. I'm definitely going to have to schedule some time for rejuvenation daily or listen to some more dharma talks until I can get my emotions under control. The good news is, that the duration of my anxiety attacks has been lessened to an approximate span of about 30 minutes to an hour rather than several days or weeks. But I'm finding that without an appropriate outlet that I'm falling off the horse a little more frequently. The intensity isn't as bad, but I still have a lot to work on. Perhaps that's why they say it's a lifelong battle.

Consciousness Cleansing

I found this snippet from HERE. I thought that it sounded appropriate given everything that's going on.

What is a Spiritual Cleansing?

Spiritual Cleansing is a type of healing. A spiritual cleansing is not a medical treatment nor is it intended to take the place of one.

Spiritual Cleansings have three components. The first phase involves gathering information about the problem at hand. This part of the process occurs during the initial interview. I usually spend about an hour talking to the client about their presenting symptoms and associated concerns.


The second phase involves the spiritual analysis. In this phase of the cleansing, I examine the aura, soul structures, and associated energetic components of a client’s physical body. In order to do this I need a picture of the client and a sample of their writing. Sometimes I will request a piece of hair or personal item that they have handled. This allows me to tune in to their energies at an even deeper level. Over the years, I have developed a number of clairvoyant abilities that allow me to sense a variety of different forms of spiritual pathology. Many clients find that simply knowing about the true source of their problem is extremely helpful.


The third phase involves treatment recommendations for the problem(s) that are discovered during the consultation and analysis. There are three levels of cleansings that are available. Level One, Level Two, and Advanced.

Most people obtain spiritual cleansings for a number of reasons. The most common are:

1. Divorce -(especially nasty ones)

2. Repeated financial difficulty

3. Relationship/family problems of a recurrent nature

4. Unusual disturbances in the home or in the workplace

5. Prior to entering into deep spiritual/meditative work

6. Persistant Spiritual Disturbances

7. A feeling of heaviness and lethargy associated with intense negative energy.


A spiritual cleansing of this nature is something that should be repeated only once a year in most cases.

The site goes on to give try to hawk you some of their merchandise. But I think it's a good start. Particularly the stage that involves gathering information. Especially if you're serious about getting better. I've found that the internet is a valuable resource to get to the root of things. Youtube also has some great vids that can point you in the right direction. I am also a fan of reading, although I no longer have the time allocated for that purpose as I really need... part of the problem. But I do understand it is a process of getting all of this stuff sorted out. I've come a long way, but I won't pretend that I still don't have a very long way to go. It is sort've reassuring to know that I'm at least working on it... there were many who told me that there was nothing I'd be able to do about it; consequently they're still stuck in the same outdated ruts. I'm glad I didn't listen to them.



I also found another site that was helpful HERE.

How can Mindfulness Exercises remove blocks of limiting feelings and negative thoughts that stop you from achieve goals and benefit from The Law Of Attraction?

There are still more methods available at your service.

The main reasons for remaining blocks could be either:

* Deeply buried feelings from past lives traumas, unknown to your Conscious Mind.
* Contradicting beliefs, implanted by an authority, probably during childhood.
* Inability to go completely through the Forgiveness Process.
* The habit of holding on to the old patterns.

Eternity is a long, long, long time! You can relax safely!

Whatever you still have remaining blocks or not, you will benefit from Mindfulness Exercises.

To be Mindful means to be present every moment, accepting and acknowledging everything within you and around you without judging.

This does not mean that you should not change those things if they do not serve your purpose, but that it is necessary to accept and acknowledge the reality, the facts and the truth before you can make a true and lasting change for the better.


If you want to live a Mindful life, you will gain from taking many small breaks during the day. Just ask yourself how you feel and how you think at that very moment. It is important that you decide to accept, acknowledge and love yourself despite of what is turning up. (this is my BIGGEST challenge. i have a lot of people encroaching upon my time outside of classes, and it wasn't in the syllabus, and the more i watch "my personal time... that I use to do something inspiring or creative that helps me lighten up" the more my sense of alarm grows at having too much work to do ... UNREASONABLE AMOUNTS and not enough time to do them. Any down time I had is spent trying to catch up).

This is not difficult at all, it is only a matter of habit. Before new habits becomes automatic it will take about 8 weeks of serious and committed practice.

Every time you have accepted, acknowledged and loved yourself despite your contradicting feelings or thoughts, you can choose to change them and make them fit into your wishes and goals.

One of the best ways to support a Mindful State is through Breathing. I will write more about Breathing Exercises later.

Besides these exercises there are several more methods to clean unwanted blocks, that I will address the pages to follow.