well, hello there.

if you’re here, reading this, you clicked either a link from my facebook page (probably something about another different kind of job application) or a link in an email i sent (probably something about a job posting, on, say, the HRDC job bank).

facebook friends, you already know me. but this post is secretly a cover letter for a resume i sent out this morning. have you guys seen my resume? i kind of re-vamped my whole approach to looking for work, and re-wrote my resume to reflect that. 
as you can see, if ever there was a resume that demanded a cover letter, i’ve written it. 

if you’re a potential employer, thanks for stopping by. i’d like to introduce myself and tell you what i’m all about.

here’s the short list, and please keep in mind, it’s (i’m) a work in progress: 

WHAT I AM
an enthusiastic taker of plunges
a “non-schooled communication specialist, in the fields of applied philosophy and workplace ethics”
a lifestyle innovator
on a quest for Personal Integrity
an artist
a thinker, talker, maker, writer 
an idealist
an optimist
my own spell-check

i’ve always been a writer. i started with paper journals, probably before high school. when the internet happened, i started a livejournal. because (in 2002) who didn’t? i hesitantly link to it here - hesitantly, because livejournal is where i learned how not to use facebook. and i was much younger and angstier when all that writing was done. well, que sera sera, i guess, and some of that writing is pretty dang funny.  

5 years ago, i was living in alberta and just starting to figure out that i like to Make Things. when i started designing crochet patterns, i started this blog to share them and talk about the other stuff i was creating. it’s since been re-imagined a few times, and now, its focus is on making a Difference, rather than just crafts. 

in 2010, i started another blog, related to www.catlander.com, my friend eric’s bike company, to talk about the workplace philosophy we were discussing ad infinitum. catlander is probably the most cohesive writing i’ve done. it’s a place for me to make sense of my thoughts and my conversations with eric, and to get some “real-world” feedback to help keep my head out of the clouds. 

small, related tangent: 

[this last year, i’ve been reading a lot about art history. van gogh was a favorite topic this summer, but i got a little concerned about how closely i identified with the concepts and ideas that he struggled with - he cut off his ear and then killed himself, in the end. 
but this winter, i’ve moved on to lawren harris. it’s refreshing, because i don’t think he ended up losing his marbles, and he thought and wrote about a lot of the same things that occupy my mind most of the time. 

what i’ve learned is that even the great masters struggled with what they’re “supposed to be doing” in life, with how best to express their true selves, with which path to follow, and with HOW to be an artist. 

and what i’ve figured out, just recently, is that i am not a painter. i’ve been barking up the wrong tree for the last couple years, and somehow, somewhy, i’ve been avoiding pursuing my WRITING as my craft.] 

so here we are, and i hope this isn’t just a “work from home” scam job, because i want to write. i also hope that this approach serves to set me apart from other applicants (in a good way).

back to my facebook friends and other blog-followers: i think i just found my new year’s resolution. or my resolve, at least. i’ll be here, and at catlander, actually updating again. it’s been two long years of introspection and lessons, and i’m finally getting back to a place where i can process it, and re-begin to share it all with you. 

for today, though, “just keep doing what you love to do, and do it with as much intensity as you possibly can.” it’s still good advice, and i think i’ll take it.