Today I got to catch up with a dear friend (Hi, Jen!) that I haven't talked to in a couple weeks. Normally, we talk at least once a week, so this was quite a while for us. Anyway, both of us marveled at how busy our jobs are, how much work there is to do, and are still optimistic about the future at our respective places of work. Then I ran across a video about how Sasha Obama has a summer job at some restaurant clearing tables and basically having a crap job like most other fifteen-year-olds. Good for her, I thought.

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Then I stumbled upon this article about LA City Council members and their first seven jobs. And thought, what were my first seven jobs? Well here they are:
1. Working in a store on a public farm. IN A GRAIN SILO. I was a cashier. And by cashier, I mean people gave me their money, and I figured up tax with a little calculator, then figured out their change by hand. And credit cards were still the slips with carbon copies. I saw a cow get artificially inseminated that summer, and swore I would never. Ever.
2. Stable hand on a horse farm. They specialized in Peruvian Pasos. Beautiful horses. It was mostly picking up horse poop and pushing a wheelbarrow from one place to another, but I did get to work with the horses a little bit.
3. Delivering phone books. I feel for people who still do this job. It's even more pointless than it was in 1991.
4.Waitress at an inn. Room and board was included, and it was in the Rocky Mountains. That was a great summer, but I'll never forget getting my ass chewed out because I forgot to heat up the syrup on my first day.
5. Trail Guide through Rocky Mountain National Park. On horses. Some amazing stories from that summer.
6. Gymnastics coach. I gotta say, dealing with kids aged 2-12 on a daily basis, I learned a TON about how to deal with people.
7. Waitress at an inn. Apparently, I hadn't had enough the first time. I moved across the country, and this was a great option. That was one crazy summer in the Smoky Mountains.


So what does it all mean? Do your first seven jobs say anything about you? I say it's doubtful. But I do think that it definitely stays with you for a long time. I dealt with the public in almost every single one of those jobs. I worked with small children and animals, two of the most temperamental creatures on the planet. I learned how to solve problems. I learned independence. I don't remember earning a bunch of money in any of those jobs, but I have memories to go with all of them.

It was many jobs after number seven before I had any real responsibility past heating up the syrup (unless you want to count keeping children from diving head first off a balance beam and keeping horses from killing themselves or you), but I still learned something from every single one, and I continue to learn every single day in the job I have now. And I guess that's what really matters, and why I love my job. 

​What were your first seven jobs?

Sometimes I have no idea what to write about. None. Head. Is. Empty. I hate that. It's like falling through the air and not knowing how you're going to land. And that's happening to me right now. Blogging is one of those things that is both annoying and fun. Like karaoke. Except I don't want to do karaoke. I want to do the real stuff, the real writing, and today nothing is coming. So I'm writing this. I think it might be time for a level-set on writing. So here we go:


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1. I'm writing something. That's the goal for the day. It doesn't have to win any awards. Hell, no one even needs to read it. I just have to write it. So this is a victory.
2. I've got other stuff I'm going to write as soon I hit 'publish'. I've got a novel I'm working on, plus another short story, so there's more than this. This is the warm up.
3. I've already published. Both on the blog, and other material. And more on the way. This won't be the last thing I publish. Only the next.
4. Not every day is easy. Some days, writing is work. Today is that day. Tomorrow will be better.

​So that's my silver lining. What do you do to pep yourself up when things are hard?

Sometimes things that are awesome happen. And sometimes I get to be a part of them. Saturday was one of them. A friend of mine asked what I was up to, and I, of course, said, "Nothin."

Anyway, one thing led to another, and we found ourselves at the Adele concert at the Staples Center. I'm going to say right now that I'm more of a casual fan than a hardcore fan. I like Adele, know some of her songs, own an album, but that's pretty much it. I know nothing about her, other than she's British and she can sing like nobody's business.

So anyway, the concert starts, and of course she opens with her current biggest hit "Hello." The crowd went wild at the first sound of her voice, and went wild again as she came rising up out of the stage in the center of the arena. And it was nothing short of amazing.

I actually got a chill watching and listening to the whole thing. There's something truly amazing about someone having such an effect on 20,000 people. It's inspiring, really. I actually got a bit choked up, and since then, I've been wondering why it would have such an effect.

But the truth is, it's not just about Adele. She's great. People love her. But I think what got me was the feeling that all those people are connecting, not just to her, but to one another. That was twenty thousand people who share a fondness, if not all out love for someone they've never met. They love the way she makes them feel when they hear her music. And for those two hours, everyone there is connected.

When you think about it, it's these small connections that make such a difference. If we could all connect in some small way every day to the things and people around us, it seems like our lives might be a bit easier. And maybe even just a bit happier.