Wait...did Phase 3 just start? Yeah it kinda did. So let me catch you up.
In the last "Life Update" post I spoke on Phase 2, this contrived arc of goals I created after graduating from undergrad and hinted towards the theme of Phase 3.
"My real purpose in Phase 3 is trying to find a life that isn't as
high octane as the 40/44+ hour week plus school plus writing schedule.
Now it's about the connections, about traveling with people and sharing
my experiences with those I care about."
Really Phase 3 is the culmination of all the tiny steps I've taken towards a day job, towards a film directing/writing career, and moving forward in my initiative towards settling somewhere. Rather than thinking of physically where I'm going next I can focus on connections, travel, and film.
So where am I settled up?
Atlanta. It's a good thing, too.
Let's start with August.
...
I mentioned that I wanted to go back to the mountains and Atlanta when I wrote on Columbia in June. I wrote about my decision to move back, job or none, on August 1st. When I came home to Georgia I got my dose of the mountains, first hiking Tallulah, going to Asheville, and later Linville Gorge via Hawksbill Mountain. I also got a dose of being graduated and back with my parents, of going back to substitute teaching.
It was a low for me. I started applying for every job that I could possibly be qualified for. At first I applied for Georgia library jobs. Then I expanded to the rest of the country. I was applying for jobs in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, and even...Florida.
Job searching in the library world can often feel like sticking a wooden chip underneath one's big toenail and then kicking a wall..over and over and over again. For most jobs I didn't hear anything back until I found out I didn't get a job. I applied to 20-30 jobs. There was one week where I heard back from 7 jobs back to back that I didn't get to the interview phase.
At least I could fall back on substitute teaching. As I started subbing again, full of hubris and confidence I was given some news that unsettled me greatly: I had been excluded from schools. In the substitute teaching world being excluded from a school means that one can no longer sub there. Within Habersham/Kelly Services if you are excluded from 3 schools you're terminated. I found out I had been excluded by 4 schools. One had excluded me two years before and I was never given any notice, one had excluded me nearly 3 years before and I had received no notice. The last exclusion was from a school I had substitute taught at for 4 days already in the current school year, had a 5th day scheduled, only to be asked by a teacher who liked me to come in for a 6th day. When she called in to book me Kelly realized this school had excluded me the school year before and failed to inform me or take any action in their system. They would inform me...3 days after they realized this...right as I was going to sub teach a class that very moment. I'm pretty sure if I had not been in a classroom, in a school that had listed me as a "preferred substitute," I would've been terminated.
I was worried about what I had set in motion in moving back to Georgia, at taking this risk. Then things started looking rosier.
Kelly had called me on my second day of a multi-day assignment. Then I got a call on my third day of this same assignment in the afternoon from a library system in Atlanta. They wanted me to come in for an interview.
Out of all the jobs I applied for I landed 2 interviews, one phone interview and one in person.The one in-person interview was for the Atlanta library job...and I got the job.
Of course it seemed as though it took an eternity for me to have this opportunity. In the grand scheme of things it wasn't that long. I received an official offer around October 30-31st after graduating August 8th and I began December 7th. Within the library world that's not terrible. We're advised that it may take 6 months after graduation to find a job. Yet I had to deal with this county's wretched HR. After interviewing in September I had to wait through October because the county HR takes 6 weeks to process the hiring committee's approval. The HR rep didn't even get my name right--Michael Bennett.
Yet here I am, a full-time paid Librarian 1 with health benefits, 40 hr week schedule, holiday pay, and...10 hours of vacation each month...which I can accumulate...for new trips. I also alternate schedules to where I have 3 day weekends every other weekend for mountain time, filmmaking time, or leisure. More importantly, I'm in Atlanta. I'm staying with a friend in Inman Park, which is a great neighborhood. I can walk to a coffee shop and to Krog Street Market, the holy grail of food halls.
Granted, I'll be moving to a new location soon, but I plan to find a place in Inman Park next year. With this job and being in the right location I'm kicking back for a bit. I can calm the f*** down.
...
Kicking back doesn't mean kicking back and doing nothing. I like being busy. Kicking back means I have less to worry about and I can focus. With the bulk of Phase 2 taken care of I can focus more intensely with writing, filmmaking, and traveling. I'm happy to report that wheels are set in motion to some exciting developments.
For one, I've made real progress with a current project as a film director. With Skinny Dipping, the new short I'm working on, I was able to assemble a first-rate crew, a wonderful cast, and heading into the end of pre-production I feel confident about shooting. This script feels like a festival contender but we'll see. Even better is that I was able to use some of the free time I had prior to moving to work on a couple of scripts. I finished a feature-length first draft called Dawn, revised a short script from 2011, revised a sketch I wrote while working for Baker & Taylor, and I'm adapting a feature script that I've drafted 3 times into a short. Plus I'm doing some preliminary work on some ideas. I've reached a point to where I need to film a short every year and get into a festival every year if I'm serious about getting into a major festival as I laid out in my 30 List. That means I need to have a lot of scripts ready to go. I need to revise the feature length and possibly prepare a short adaptation of it as well. There's stuff to be worked on but it's progress.
As far as travel is concerned I haven't begun concretely with any plans--I haven't bought tickets to anywhere yet--but I've set up a criteria. I want what I always want in my travels--a rich cultural experience, an opportunity for adventure or landscape gazing--with one particular hitch. I want to have a cultural experience that gets me out of my comfort zone. As someone who is a Hispanophile and who is now a Ricknick this means somewhere outside of the Americas or Europe. This means one continent for me: Asia. The only other criteria: I should be able to do this trip in one week. I have two ideas for where I want to go.
Previously in my 30 List I had listed Egypt as a destination, to see the pyramids. With the recent turmoil I scratched it with the idea of having its place be a wild card. So my first idea is to use this wild card to go to a country similar to Egypt in terms of rich history, breathtaking visuals, but also a country that has a Muslim majority population. This place needs to have a reasonable tourist infrastructure. With this in mind Turkey has been on the top of my list of where to go next year.
The second idea involves one that I already have on my list: Japan. On my list I outlined going to Japan and seeing Mount Fuji and this could be the trip where I do this. It would certainly provide the fish out of water experience I want. It also has a non-Western religious majority.
The main difference between Japan and Turkey is that I'm deeply attracted to Japanese cultural exports. Some of my favorite films of all time were made by Japanese filmmakers and ditto goes for my love of haiku and traditional Japanese poetry. I have no cultural attachment to Turkey except for Rumi (who is Persian but widely venerated in Turkey). The fact that I can plan a trip will depend on income and rent but I think it's doable for next year. With the vacation hours I accumulate I may plan my Grand Canyon trip finally. Ultimately I'm just happy to be at a point to where I can finally focus on traveling more.
...
With the end of the year I can wrap up this year with a neat bow. This year has emboldened my optimism. During my deepest worries I managed to follow through. I can get a lot of flak by friends and even acquaintances for my RBF, with many people seeing me as a downer or pessimistic. The reality is that I'm not like that at all. I mean how many pessimistic people make a list of goals and follow through? I've learned that optimism gets me to more places and I've learned to not give up like I would ten years ago.
Phase 3, the final phase of my 30 List, has begun. I think I've made it through the congested traffic of my goals, and now I can drive smoothly.
Really Phase 3 is the culmination of all the tiny steps I've taken towards a day job, towards a film directing/writing career, and moving forward in my initiative towards settling somewhere. Rather than thinking of physically where I'm going next I can focus on connections, travel, and film.
So where am I settled up?
Atlanta. It's a good thing, too.
Let's start with August.
...
I mentioned that I wanted to go back to the mountains and Atlanta when I wrote on Columbia in June. I wrote about my decision to move back, job or none, on August 1st. When I came home to Georgia I got my dose of the mountains, first hiking Tallulah, going to Asheville, and later Linville Gorge via Hawksbill Mountain. I also got a dose of being graduated and back with my parents, of going back to substitute teaching.
It was a low for me. I started applying for every job that I could possibly be qualified for. At first I applied for Georgia library jobs. Then I expanded to the rest of the country. I was applying for jobs in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, and even...Florida.
Job searching in the library world can often feel like sticking a wooden chip underneath one's big toenail and then kicking a wall..over and over and over again. For most jobs I didn't hear anything back until I found out I didn't get a job. I applied to 20-30 jobs. There was one week where I heard back from 7 jobs back to back that I didn't get to the interview phase.
At least I could fall back on substitute teaching. As I started subbing again, full of hubris and confidence I was given some news that unsettled me greatly: I had been excluded from schools. In the substitute teaching world being excluded from a school means that one can no longer sub there. Within Habersham/Kelly Services if you are excluded from 3 schools you're terminated. I found out I had been excluded by 4 schools. One had excluded me two years before and I was never given any notice, one had excluded me nearly 3 years before and I had received no notice. The last exclusion was from a school I had substitute taught at for 4 days already in the current school year, had a 5th day scheduled, only to be asked by a teacher who liked me to come in for a 6th day. When she called in to book me Kelly realized this school had excluded me the school year before and failed to inform me or take any action in their system. They would inform me...3 days after they realized this...right as I was going to sub teach a class that very moment. I'm pretty sure if I had not been in a classroom, in a school that had listed me as a "preferred substitute," I would've been terminated.
I was worried about what I had set in motion in moving back to Georgia, at taking this risk. Then things started looking rosier.
Kelly had called me on my second day of a multi-day assignment. Then I got a call on my third day of this same assignment in the afternoon from a library system in Atlanta. They wanted me to come in for an interview.
Out of all the jobs I applied for I landed 2 interviews, one phone interview and one in person.The one in-person interview was for the Atlanta library job...and I got the job.
Of course it seemed as though it took an eternity for me to have this opportunity. In the grand scheme of things it wasn't that long. I received an official offer around October 30-31st after graduating August 8th and I began December 7th. Within the library world that's not terrible. We're advised that it may take 6 months after graduation to find a job. Yet I had to deal with this county's wretched HR. After interviewing in September I had to wait through October because the county HR takes 6 weeks to process the hiring committee's approval. The HR rep didn't even get my name right--Michael Bennett.
Yet here I am, a full-time paid Librarian 1 with health benefits, 40 hr week schedule, holiday pay, and...10 hours of vacation each month...which I can accumulate...for new trips. I also alternate schedules to where I have 3 day weekends every other weekend for mountain time, filmmaking time, or leisure. More importantly, I'm in Atlanta. I'm staying with a friend in Inman Park, which is a great neighborhood. I can walk to a coffee shop and to Krog Street Market, the holy grail of food halls.
Granted, I'll be moving to a new location soon, but I plan to find a place in Inman Park next year. With this job and being in the right location I'm kicking back for a bit. I can calm the f*** down.
...
Kicking back doesn't mean kicking back and doing nothing. I like being busy. Kicking back means I have less to worry about and I can focus. With the bulk of Phase 2 taken care of I can focus more intensely with writing, filmmaking, and traveling. I'm happy to report that wheels are set in motion to some exciting developments.
For one, I've made real progress with a current project as a film director. With Skinny Dipping, the new short I'm working on, I was able to assemble a first-rate crew, a wonderful cast, and heading into the end of pre-production I feel confident about shooting. This script feels like a festival contender but we'll see. Even better is that I was able to use some of the free time I had prior to moving to work on a couple of scripts. I finished a feature-length first draft called Dawn, revised a short script from 2011, revised a sketch I wrote while working for Baker & Taylor, and I'm adapting a feature script that I've drafted 3 times into a short. Plus I'm doing some preliminary work on some ideas. I've reached a point to where I need to film a short every year and get into a festival every year if I'm serious about getting into a major festival as I laid out in my 30 List. That means I need to have a lot of scripts ready to go. I need to revise the feature length and possibly prepare a short adaptation of it as well. There's stuff to be worked on but it's progress.
As far as travel is concerned I haven't begun concretely with any plans--I haven't bought tickets to anywhere yet--but I've set up a criteria. I want what I always want in my travels--a rich cultural experience, an opportunity for adventure or landscape gazing--with one particular hitch. I want to have a cultural experience that gets me out of my comfort zone. As someone who is a Hispanophile and who is now a Ricknick this means somewhere outside of the Americas or Europe. This means one continent for me: Asia. The only other criteria: I should be able to do this trip in one week. I have two ideas for where I want to go.
Previously in my 30 List I had listed Egypt as a destination, to see the pyramids. With the recent turmoil I scratched it with the idea of having its place be a wild card. So my first idea is to use this wild card to go to a country similar to Egypt in terms of rich history, breathtaking visuals, but also a country that has a Muslim majority population. This place needs to have a reasonable tourist infrastructure. With this in mind Turkey has been on the top of my list of where to go next year.
The second idea involves one that I already have on my list: Japan. On my list I outlined going to Japan and seeing Mount Fuji and this could be the trip where I do this. It would certainly provide the fish out of water experience I want. It also has a non-Western religious majority.
The main difference between Japan and Turkey is that I'm deeply attracted to Japanese cultural exports. Some of my favorite films of all time were made by Japanese filmmakers and ditto goes for my love of haiku and traditional Japanese poetry. I have no cultural attachment to Turkey except for Rumi (who is Persian but widely venerated in Turkey). The fact that I can plan a trip will depend on income and rent but I think it's doable for next year. With the vacation hours I accumulate I may plan my Grand Canyon trip finally. Ultimately I'm just happy to be at a point to where I can finally focus on traveling more.
...
With the end of the year I can wrap up this year with a neat bow. This year has emboldened my optimism. During my deepest worries I managed to follow through. I can get a lot of flak by friends and even acquaintances for my RBF, with many people seeing me as a downer or pessimistic. The reality is that I'm not like that at all. I mean how many pessimistic people make a list of goals and follow through? I've learned that optimism gets me to more places and I've learned to not give up like I would ten years ago.
Phase 3, the final phase of my 30 List, has begun. I think I've made it through the congested traffic of my goals, and now I can drive smoothly.
No comments:
Post a Comment