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| Contact Pat |
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2873 Martin Rd. #378
Dublin, Ohio 43017
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| Dear Friends of Balancing Act,
 Looking for good news in this recession? I've found some. In this issue, I'll introduce you to some hopeful people who are leaping up from adversity to follow their passions.
Need support in navigating your own transitions? Learn what Central Ohio women are doing to reach out to each other.
If online social networking is part of your plan to stay afloat, my Twitter Tutor has dug up resources that will help you Tweet with less stress.
If you've been felled by the flu bug, my late mom has some advice for you.
And finally, here's your chance to help me prove that an old saying still holds true in the new economy: The best things in life are free.
Let's stay balanced!
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Pat
P.S. There's still time (till March 31) to win a cartoon drawing of your favorite pet in the Name-That-Dog Contest and laugh your stress and creativity blocks away in my March 11 Belly Laugh to Your Aha! Moment class. Go to my web page for details.
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| Taking the Leap and Loving It |
 When I set out to find some good news for a change in this recession, I turned to my online friends and asked if anyone was finding a way to use hard times to follow their dreams. Their stories were heart-warming and inspiring to me, so I want to share a few with you.
Kari Hertel, a Columbus lawyer, lost her brother last year and told how that loss, coupled with some recent work experience, has inspired her to hang up her law shingle as a solo practitioner.
Heidi Willard, a former teacher from the D.C. area, has combined her teaching background with her hobby of scrapbooking and, with the help of a grant, has developed what she believes is a recession-proof business, Scrapbooks That Teach. You can read more about Kari and Heidi through their comments on my blog, The Dog Journal.
An inquiry to fellow alums from the University of Pittsburgh brought more stories of hope. A woman laid off from the financial industry in June was growing her own business helping small businesses grow via federal contracts. An HR executive, laid off in September, was following her lifelong dream of starting a bakery business. And others, still working, were laying the groundwork for a travel business and an arts and crafts store, "just in case."
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| Support Systems to the Rescue! |
I never met a self-help book that wasn't worth at least thumbing through. Some of them are worth - oh, about 2.5 minutes of thumbing - but I recently bumped into one that I actually bought: Smart Women Don't Retire. They Break Free. Put together by a national organization called The Transition Network (TTN), it tackles issues that can disrupt the lives of professional women over 50, e.g., finances, downsizing, retirement, and how to take care of aging parents. TTN has chapters in several large cities (NYC, San Francisco, and Houston, for example), where members support each other with regular discussions. A discussion group is also underway here in Columbus and open to new participants. Check my website for details about the next meeting, March 23 at Bon Vie, Easton.
For women of all ages who are employed, want to be employed, or are starting their own businesses, Dames Bond here in Central Ohio offers casual, fun networking events aimed at women helping women succeed in the workplace and the marketplace. Their motto tells it all: When Dames Bond, dames thrive! At the February bash, I met amazing women: a jazz artist, a magazine publisher, an auto mechanic, a dog whisperer, a virtual assistant, and more. I'm not wild about networking events, but I left this one without any bamboo under my fingernails. |
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Tips From the Twitter Tutor |
 I recently wrote a column about my trials with online social networking. It took awhile, but I finally got LinkedIn, planted my mug on Facebook, and vowed to make 1,000 new online friends.
Twitter baffled me, though, so I jumped at the chance to spend a couple hours with Shane, the IT guy, to learn how to tweet, what to tweet, whom to tweet, and when to tweet.
Turns out it's not so hard to sign up (free) at the Twitter website , start picking out people to "follow" (see the messages they send out) on Twitter, and then send out messages myself. The messages have to be short (under 140 characters) and like Facebook's, are supposed to describe "what I'm doing right now."
Before long, I was following 50-some people, including George Stephanopoulos, and 40-some (not including George Stephanopoulos) were following me.
Besides the technical stuff, Shane offered this advice: (1) It's about building relationships, not just tooting (twitting?) your own horn. (2) Nothing is too insignificant to tweet about. (3) Tweet during lunch.
He also set me up with a free TweetDeck to manage my tweets and a Twitter Dictionary to write in code. And on my own, I found this great article by mega-Tweeter Guy Kawasaki on how to build a Twitter following.
Now I know what's on the White House menu. (Thanks, George). But will George ever know I eat oatmeal every day for breakfast?
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| Leash Law No. 3: Keep Your PJs On |
 My late mom had good advice for anyone - and especially other moms - returning home from the hospital: Keep Your PJs On. I'd extend this advice to anyone recovering from the nasty bugs circling during this cold and flu season.
Mom's reasoning went like this: As soon as the patient emerges from the bedroom fully clothed, she becomes the perfect candidate to empty the dishwasher, inflate some bike tires and, after a day or so, clean the gutters. And those are only the demands from other family members. The over-ambitious patient will invent her own to-do list. So mom was right. Plan to do nothing, and dress for the occasion.
Note: More Leash Laws coming soon, with the release of my first book, The Dog Ate My Planner: Tales and Tips from an Overbooked Life.
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| What Best Things Are Free? |
 According to Sinatra, it was the moon and the stars, the flowers in spring, the robins that sing, and the moonbeams that shine (they're yours, they're mine, remember?).
But maybe you have a better idea for finding no-cost stuff (and non-stuff) that can make life feel more balanced in this crazy economy.
Copyright 2009 Pat Snyder | |
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