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I recently moved and came across the materials
from a seminar that you hosted with Valerie from Changing Course
around 5 years ago in western MA.
I found the "Work at What you Love" workbook and
now five years later I am living the life I wrote about then (
leading women's retreats, teaching yoga on the beach) and actually
am doing even more creative stuff than I could have dreamed of!.
I remember that I loved the seminar but really was
at a place where I thought the ideas would work for anyone but NOT
ME. I had very low self esteem in the area of work because for
many reasons, I kept choosing jobs that were a poor match.
This was I thought how my life was going to
be...just grin and bear it and accept that I would never live my
life from a more authentic place...so this is where I was, kept
working these draining jobs, going to therapy, completely stressed
about $ all the time...and yet there was a part of me that would not
give up.
I became a registered yoga teacher and at your
seminar talked about wanting to teach yoga on the beach and offer
meditation vacations.
Fast forward to June of this year. I am no longer
teaching yoga as I was back at another under-earning job. I liked
the hospitality industry but the job I had once again was a poor
fit.
At the same time my husband’s company was also
unstable due to the recession. He had worked there for 18 years but
now was scared that he might not make 20.
You have to understand, my husband did not grow up
in this country and for that reason, once you landed a job you kept
it no matter what unless of course you were laid off.
So he never read the help wanted but because he
was so angry and scared he started reading them and saw an ad for an
innkeeper. I was working at a hotel as a front office manager on
Cape Cod and was so miserable. So my husband, you know the guy who
really did not want to embrace change, encouraged me to call on the
inn. I called and the owner said he was really not looking for an
employee but a business partner.
We were not ready to lease the inn (which was what
he wanted) as it was already July and well into the summer when we
were meeting with him so we offered to run the inn as independent
contractors and had a legal agreement drawn up. Now basically
, we work for ourselves and get a decent percentage of what we bring
in.
We run the inn how we want to and we are truly
having the time of our lives. We both get to use our skills and
because they are so different they compliment each other well! My
husband says that he feels alive in a way that he has not in a long
time and we just discovered new space behind the inn that we will be
turning into retreat/meeting/yoga space by January of this year.
I also found a thriving arts community where I
will be teaching yoga next week. I also plan on offering classes on
the beach this summer and am looking into several other streams of
income to get us thru our quiet season. I plan on getting your book
again as I cannot find my copy and I will sing up for your
newsletter as well because I so enjoy the words of wisdom that you
offer.
It is so funny because now I am never sure how
much $ will be coming in week to week and it is the thing I worry
about the least as I am having way too much fun working hard and now
believe that the universe will provide me with everything that I
need because it ALREADY HAS!
I am happy, relaxed, and excited to greet each day
and to me this is worth all the money in the world.
So if your travels ever bring you near Cape Cod
again, feel free to stop by and say hello to another "joyfully
jobless traveler! You can see the inn on the web at
www.innononsetbay.net
Thank you so much Barbara for planting that seed
five years ago. it took awhile but I have finally
grown into the authentic, happy woman that I truly believe
God meant for me to be!
With the warmest of Regards!
Cheryl
Bagangan
In 2005 I was downsized from a job I loved very much, and my
treasured colleague of ten years moved to another state to start
over. My husband's job kept us here in Lincoln and I knew I had to
reinvent myself.
I was standing in front of the shelves in Barnes & Noble,
tears running down my cheeks wondering what in the world I was going
to do and how in the world I was ever going to work through my sense
of loss. 'Making a Living Without a Job'
was the only book I could bear to hold in my hands that day, and I
bought it and took it home with me.
 The book mentions another Lincoln man, Ken Hoppeman, a piano
teacher who once called Barbara for advice. On impulse, I called
Ken, too after I saw his name there in the pages of Making a Living
Without a Job.
I now teach part time at Union College, the very place where
he also taught piano for many years and directly across the street
from the studio he was opening at the time he contacted Barbara.
Kismet.
Thanks for everything!
Jill Morstad, PhD
www.prairiek9.com
My own story
includes periods of time of purposeful disconnection from
employment. Early on people couldn't understand why I left very good
job at the peak of my career and downsize at an age when the
majority of people are focused on career and the accumulation of
wealth.
My answer was
complicated, but the simple answer was, "To live my life with
integrity." I had bought into the American Dream and was incredibly
unhappy. I knew the process of connecting with my purpose in life
would be challenging but I did not realize that the search would be
as dramatic and enlightening as it has been.
Over the last
five years I have been a teacher at a high school in North Carolina
where I taught Foods I and II (nutrition and cooking); a substitute
teacher in WV and VA; hiked miles of trails including the
Appalachian Trail and other trails in the east; visited with my
children including my grandson who will be a year old in January;
started a farmers market; grown a garden; met new people; and earned
my personal trainer certification. I am still not "employed" but I
am happy making contributions to the communities were I live. I gave
up job hunting. Right now I’m a professional domestic and personal
chef and love it.
Harmony Leonard
Currently in PA, but that could change next week
You played a
major part in building our confidence when we were just starting
out. I remember that we were so in awe of you (and we still are!)
that you were so confident and that you had even written a book. We
never thought that we would write a book. And now our agent has just
submitted our latest proposal to two publishers, so if they like it
we will be off and running on a third book. We credit you for
starting us off in the right direction.
Barbara Pitts
http://asktheinventors.com
Dallas, TX
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