Creative Communications

I wanted to write a post that wasn’t complaining about the current economic woes that myself and many other people find themselves in at this time. I mean, what the heck, I’m not being foreclosed upon, I have a $25 balance on my credit card. And for the next month at least, I can pay rent.

So that’s the first step, acknowledge what is going well. There are a few things working for you in your situation, they often get overshadowed by all the negativity that keeps hitting the fan and getting everywhere.

Craigslist, monster, jobdango, indeed are all my friends, and I visit them often enough to keep a constant stream of work applications going out. It’s thankless work, I’m lucky to get an acknowledgment of the receipt of my materials, and once or twice, I was actually rejected! I try to forget about jobs I’ve applied to, it just makes things easier.

Second step, keep up the momentum, the biggest enemy at this point is stasis. This kind of stillness only allows depression inside. Don’t stop, don’t even begin feeling sorry for yourself, keep working on things. Set non work-related goals and accomplish little things.

Writing about all this stuff actually helps. I think it helps me more then it does you. Just voicing these fears and concerns, even to an audience of zero, helps the mind sort it all out. Bringing the intangible to reality offers a small measure of control.

Third, find some sort of expression for the frustration, notice I didn’t say ‘release’. Release is too often associated with self-destructive urges and non-productive actions. Expression is functional, release just puts the energy into the ether with no regard for where it lands or what effects it has. There’s a reason we’re feeling frustrated, lets focus on that.