Author: Rohvannyn

Rohvannyn Shaw, an Arizona author and illustrator, runs the blog Mindflight and also the art site, rohvannynshaw.com. Educated at the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Visual arts degree, she comes from a family of writers. She has edited several books, both fiction and non fiction, collaborated on three poetry chapbooks, and illustrates stories and poetry as a sideline. Her recent novels, Rageth and The Dice of Fate, are available on Amazon.com. Her ebook, Quests of the Avatar, is available free on Mind-flight.org. Her new book of comedy, How to P!ss Off The Customers, is out now and available. More to come!

The Nitty Gritty – Life Lessons from my job

Personal Growth

I don’t know about you, but whenever I’ve started a new office/customer service job it seems like the training is half pablum, half semi/useful stuff, full of platitudes and not really of lasting use to anyone.  Not so with this new job, the one I talked about getting a month or so ago.

I started training this week and have been really impressed with the company.  Today I had a course in cooperative communication, and another in appreciating diversity.  Usually those are prime candidates for the Useless List.  This time, though, I was shocked!  I actually learned some things, and was reminded of useful advice I’ve heard before but don’t put in practice often enough.  I came away from the training inspired, not bored.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned, hopefully they’ll help you too.

“Be responsible for your actions.”  More people need to do this.  Being responsible isn’t being accountable to a higher authority, it’s recognizing what the right thing to do is, because it’s the right thing, then doing it.  I need to do this more too.

“Stay Positive.”  This is practically the watchword of the classroom I’m in, and the instructor reminded us on the first day that our jobs will be much more fun if we do this.  The material, though difficult, will also be easier to learn.  I agree with her 100% and want to do this more in my private life as well.

“Don’t focus your attention on your intention, but on the impact of your actions.”  I love this at the same time as I am infuriated by this.  It’s so easy to say “but I only meant to…” when a mistake has been made.  However, no matter what I might think, the effect of my actions is exactly the same no matter what I meant.  Focusing on the impact puts my attention where it needs to be to learn from what happened and do better next time.

“Be creative and flexible in your interactions.”  This was great because it reminded me that different people have different styles of interaction, so if you are flexible, you can get the most out of every meeting, be it casual or professional.

“To err is human, but to take responsibility for your part is professional.”   I love this.  It allows that mistakes can happen, but demonstrates a behavior that is the first step in the path to making amends and fixing the situation.

“The power of the pause.”   This is the best of all the tips, really, because it’s the one that lets you follow them.  Taking that extra second after you might have said or done something wrong, or someone else did, can be all the difference between a reasonable response and an unfortunate one.

 

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/grit/

Take up your quill and write your own destiny

Personal Growth

I’m approximately halfway through my life, given current longevity rates for a person in my socioeconomic situation.  It’s causing me to see that I will never do the things I want to do unless I make them happen.  I can’t afford to wait, it’s time to decide what things I want to take the time to be good at.  Also, what things I want to do, and how to get there.  Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.

Growing up, I didn’t have much variety of music to listen to.  We had a few cassette tapes of folk music.  We didn’t go out and buy albums.  We didn’t have Mp3s to download, and I didn’t listen to the radio because I took the bus everywhere.  Listening to music on the internet was a total revelation to me when I went to college, but I didn’t do it much because music wasn’t really a huge part of my life.

Fast forward to meeting my wife.  She is a metal head.  I didn’t like it at first.  Gradually I started to and now power metal is my favorite genre.  For a long time I had a recurring dream about playing the guitar but I never did anything about it.

Tonight I got to hang out at a friend’s studio.  He’s been playing electric guitar for 38 years and wow, he’s good!  I haven’t listened to much live music so this was a real revelation.  The music touched me as never before.  I even liked the songs I normally wouldn’t like, as the sound enfolded me and stirred my deepest nerve endings.  I found myself totally comfortable in the studio.  I liked the smell of the air, the look of the equipment.  I didn’t feel out of place like I have in other musical venues.  It felt… right.  In fact, I was inspired to do a painting, which I’ll start tomorrow.

This reminded me of my dream of playing the guitar.  Perhaps, I thought, I could start playing one!  Time’s wasting, there are fewer days ahead than there are behind.  I can find a cheap used guitar to start with, and look at lessons on YouTube.  I can practice with headphones on so I don’t even bother the neighbors.  The point is, if I want to do this, I can make it happen by taking the first step, and then the next, and then the next.  I can have my dreams if I go about it in a sensible way.  As my guitar player friend said, “you have to decide you’ve already done it and then just get started.”

Is there a dream you’ve had that’s like this?  How might you write your own life story?

 

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/quill/

Fantastic Sunset Art

Featured Artists, Uncategorized

See artist’s amazing cardboard cutouts that come to life at sunset When nine-time Emmy award-winning TV producer and writer John Marshall found himself living alone for a month on Frye Island, Maine, he got to thinking about how best to spend his time. Inspired by the beautiful sunsets he witnessed from his back door, he […]

via See artist’s amazing cardboard cutouts that come to life at sunset — FLOW ART STATION

Mental Snack

Thoughts About Life

Sometimes it’s nice to have a little bite of philosophy to go with the rest of your day, much like a savory snack to get you to your next meal.  It’s an interlude, a bit of added flavor, perhaps an enhancement to life.

Here is a good one I heard recently.

One character is asking another what the meaning of life is and what God is.  Here’s the answer.

 

If I take a lamp and shine it toward the wall, a bright spot will appear on the wall. The lamp is our search for truth, for understanding. Too often we assume that the light on the wall is God.

But the light is not the goal of the search; it is the result of the search. The more intense the search, the brighter the light on the wall. The brighter the light on the wall, the greater the sense of revelation upon seeing it! Similarly, someone who does not search, who does not bring a lantern with him, sees nothing.

What we perceive as God, is the byproduct of our search for God. It may simply be an appreciation of the light, pure and unblemished, not understanding that it comes from us. Sometimes we stand in front of the light and assume that we are the center of the universe. God looks astonishingly like we do!

Or we turn to look at our shadow, and assume that all is darkness. If we allow ourselves to get in the way, we defeat the purpose; which is to use the light of our search to illuminate the wall in all its beauty – and in all its flaws. And in so doing better understand the world around us.

 

So there you have it, a little food for thought.  In case anyone is curious, that particular quote is from the character G’Kar, from Babylon 5.  His people have decided he’s a religious figure and he’s trying to share some of what he’s learned in his various struggles.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/snack/

 

 

 

The greatest paper I’ve read this month

Personal Growth

Okay, it’s metaphorical paper – the endless scroll that is a webpage.  Yet, I’m actually tempted to print this one out.  I found it thought provoking, refreshingly non-partisan, and eminently useful.  It’s a graphic discussion of core beliefs and how we learn, done by one of my favorite cartoonists.  Just click to follow – there’s a safe for work, and a not safe for work option!

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https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/paper/

 

 

 

Message in a Bottle

Personal Growth

If you could write a message in a bottle to your former self, what would it be?

For the longest time, I didn’t have a clue.

Now, I know what I’d write to myself when I was in high school or early college.

I’d tell myself to find some career mentoring.  I’d also remind myself to take very good care of my teeth – those things are incredibly expensive to fix!  And I’d tell myself very gently that all this time I was spending in artistic pursuits wouldn’t mean anything if I didn’t push myself to actually improve.  I’d tell myself to get into weight lifting and a high protein diet when I went to college, and spend more time in STEM classes even if it meant getting a tutor.  Last of all, I’d remind myself that clearcut goals would let me go very far, instead of paddling around in low wage jobs for years after I got out.

I’d have quite a few things to say if I could throw a message to my former self.  Maybe she’d even read them and listen.  Who knows?

Now, here’s the more interesting question.  If you could write a message in a bottle to your future self, what would it be?  Put another way, imagine your future self.  What things would they have wanted you to know now?

Everything we do right now is a message to our future self.  How much care we take of ourself, how much money we save, how much we learn every day, what we do in our spare time, everything.

It can be useful and even fun to think about the future self we are creating at this very moment.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/bottle/

Sparking Your Creativity

Tips for Artists

When looking for ideas for drawing, painting, poetry or sculpture, it can be helpful to think outside the crate. Or think outside the corrugated cardboard container. Or the cube. Or the containment device. Or the little space bounded by roughly equal sides and describable by geometry.

It’s not too useful to just say “be creative,” without having some ways to encourage that in your head! Creativity is like a muscle. Once you get your mind warmed up, you will be more creative with your other projects, not just the little exercises listed here.

My mother, who is a writer as well, gave me a great idea so I’ll mention it here. She has been writing poetry and short works with five randomly selected words. That can be a great way to kickstart creativity! You can even close your eyes, open a dictionary, and point. Or find a random word generator and use that. The idea is to cause new, unexpected input to come into your mind and spark new ideas. Creativity often comes when you take two unrelated ideas and play around with how they could be connected. And it’s hard to get new ideas without new input.

Something I frequently like to do is take some object, natural or created, and examine it closely, perhaps even under a magnifying glass or microscope if you have one. Even a pinecone can be a fascinating thing to explore if you really get into examining all the shapes, shadows, ridges and texture of it. Maybe it could become part of a new creature, or an idea for a structural support on a building? This can work for artists, writers, sculptors, or anyone else who wants to rev up their creativity.

Macro photography on the internet can be a fascinating way to look at the world. So can Google’s “I’m feeling lucky” feature. Take a walk and examine something you’ve never looked at before. Read an article about a subject you known nothing about. Pick a word at random and look up websites about it. Read quotes from famous people you’ve never heard of. That can trigger new ideas too.

Creativity requires imagination. If you open your eyes, literally or figuratively, and get interested in the world, great ideas follow.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/create/

Out of Focus – dark skies, flapping, and Mars

Photography

This week is a celebration of photos that represent focus.  I liked seeing the example of an out of focus picture that nevertheless communicates.  I must say I have a few photos that re less than sharp.  Okay, more than a few!  I do keep some of them because they are interesting in other ways.  They might make a good abstract background, or sometimes the blurriness helps tell the story.  Here are a few.

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These quail are really in a flap!  The blur makes me think of how active they were.

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This moon, though blurry, made a neat background for a poem about Halloween.

blurred moon 2.JPG

There’s something I really like about this one – blurred, it looks like the eye of a great beast, and has an interesting mood.

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Although, to be fair, this is what it was supposed to look like!

Mars R small.JPG

This last image is probably the best out of focus picture I’ve ever taken.  Not only is it the shaky track created by my trying to take a picture of Mars at extreme zoom, but it starts to spell out my name!

via Photo Challenge: Focus

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/out-of-focus/

Job Interview Revelations

Classic Skills

As I go higher into the corporate ranks, I learn that the interview process becomes both longer and less certain.

No longer do I see the exact pay they are offering, they are vague about it till the actual job offer comes.  I have to go through more interviews.  Sometimes I don’t even know where the job is until I get fairly far into the interview process.  Also, I don’t even know if they are passing me farther into the process, except by subtle cues!  However, this is the best way to be paid more, especially if you are currently working in entry level customer service and want to get a better job.

Tips and Revelations to get you through Corporate Interviews:

The people hiring you often want to hire you as much as you want to be hired by them.  Your job is to make them see you’ll be a good person to work with.  So be personable and try to relax as much you can while staying professional.

If you get to the interview and they are already talking about dress code, corporate culture, travel requirements, and where the company is going in the next year or so, that’s a very good sign.  They are interested in you.

It’s especially good if you can get them laughing a bit!  Smiles are good to see.  Keep a gently cheerful expression on your face.  A good thing to do during the wait before the interview is a little deep breathing.  Think about cheerful things that always make you smile.

It’s a bit stressful for the interviewer too, they are just as human as you are.  That’s the number one reason not to be too nervous.

Do a little research on the company – glassdoor.com is pretty good for this – so you know how much salary to ask for in your area.

Wear a conversation piece with your interview clothes.  For instance, I wore a black skirt, black blouse, royal purple jacket, and a simple pendant.  However, the pendant was a piece of opal that grew inside quartz and is captured in a silver setting.  So even though it was understated, it was interesting, and has helped people remember me.  Simple and classic clothes are best whether you’re a man or a woman.

Stand up straight, look people in the eye, and act like you are comfortable there.  Don’t be informal but at the same time tell yourself “I belong here.  I will work here.”  It helps.

I am writing these tips because I have just gotten through several successful interviews and have gotten myself a $3.50 an hour raise with at least three companies wanting me to work for them.  If you have other tips for potential interviews, post them here!

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/revelation/