With all the stress and expense involved in making my 43rd move, I was on the look out for some part-time work. I had so much on the go. What would it take to restore our life after moving? Let us backtrack to the series of events that resulted in a new change.
My goal was that if I could secure a part-time job that would cover my rent, at least it would ease the pressure of the move, especially while I had to take time to unpack and get our new place in order. Right in the middle of apartment hunting I had two options come up. Neither of them were really what I wanted to do, but one has to pay the bills, so I decided to explore both of them.
The first was my pet hate, house cleaning. However, this time something made me sit up and take note. The offer that came through was for someone to set up a few house cleaning jobs for me, outside of Jerusalem for 4-5 hours a day at ₪50 an hour. I sat down and did the maths. Yes, I know, I am from South Africa, so for me it is maths and not math.
I did not really have the time to spare for 2 hours of traveling each way and 4-5 hours. Let’s face it, I was still apartment hunting, packing up my apartment and at that stage, still helping my mother, before she went away for a few weeks. But bills are bills and the funny thing about bills is that they have no patience. They want paying immediately! So I began to explore this a little more. No, it would not cover all my needs, but it would ease some of the pressure. My mind began working.
Next on the list was an offer to join a call centre. the pay was much lower than the house cleaning work, but there was some commission. Well, I have certainly done my share of the type of work the calls were being made about. I explored that one too.
In the end, the job came through for the call centre, and nothing happening of the offer for 5 days worth of cleaning jobs. So off I went to start making calls. During the first week, I had my move and my work continued.
I was grateful to have this work come through, though the very low pay was frustrating. After a traumatic move with lots of breakage, lost and stolen items, there was so much to take care of. Our new apartment is not yet completely in order either. Will we really achieve sanity and a normal life after moving?
As the days and weeks marched on, something was amiss at this new job. The turn over was alarmingly high. The amount of new staff members being called in for hearings was just not normal. I began to worry and for very good reason. Soon came the news that the sponsor for the new project we had been hired for had pulled out. Without the funds, the whole project folded and with it the jobs of 40 new staff members.
I decided to focus the time I would be at the call centre on pitching for my freelance writing work. It’s a service that certainly has the potential to enable me to earn what I need to move forward on developing our Healing Centre. Yesterday went pretty well. I had a list of companies to pitch to and went to work to do my research. Yes, I even completed some pitching.
Today was more of a challenge. I had great plans in the morning, but my mom felt like doing something exciting. Hm, what can we come up with? Well it just so happens that we do have a few educational games in the making. The problem is that two of these games require printing informational material to insert into the package. We really want the packages to be complete before starting our videos and marketing. So, what could we do next?
I took out a few items in order to decide and the most fun happened.
There is nothing like wanting one’s mother to be a happy mom! It inspires all kinds of wonderful processes and hence our range of products. So now, as the day draws to a close, we have 3 new products virtually ready for photographing, packaging and uploading to our online store. Yes, I did manage to complete one pitch and to add a new service to my website.
So there is movement and much happening behind the scenes. There is much work to do to become sustainable. But I am very happy with the day’s progress.
How did you spend your day? Do you enjoy being creative? I know I do! Being involved in creative projects is just my best, favourite type of activity. I am so excited to be developing some creative products. Today’s products will make beautiful gifts to brighten your home or the home of a loved one or friend. More to come on these products. So stay tuned.
One thing I can say, after a change in direction of the day. Being involved in creating beautiful gifts is just exactly what I needed. I needed the sense of calm that comes from engaging in art and craft activities. I needed the sense of achievement and satisfaction that comes with seeing the final product. Yes, the change of direction was good, very good and it helped me to realise that there can be relaxation and calm in one’s life again after moving.
This post is prepared for you by
Occupational Therapist, healing facilitator,
certified infant massage instructor, freelance
writer, author of “Healing Your Life Through
Activity – An Occupational Therapist’s Story” and co-author of “Tuvia Finds His Freedom“.