Uphill Battles and Finding One's Place

So, I've been in Olympia about two months now. I still don't have a job. I still don't have much of a friend community, BUT I've got other things going for me.

It's easy to get down when you see your savings dwindling and are getting rejected left and right after awesome interviews (and not being given any reasons when you inquire as to what you could work on for next time). It's easy to feel lonely when you see seas of faces every day and don't feel like you really know any of them, even when you try to make connections. It's easy to stay inside your apartment when you feel like you have nowhere to go and nothing to do.

I'm doing my best to avoid these things:

I've been getting out every day for at least a few hours to wander town, stop into places and check them out, check on the garden, or just wander the streets of my neighborhood.

I've been spending some time with a few of Caleb's classmates that I've really connected with and been introducing myself more and more to the faces I see regularly around town... or people who just have that aura of "interesting" floating about them.

I've been handing out resumes, going in to chat with owners and employees, filling out applications, continuing to go to interviews (even though they seem less and less hopeful, I try to always put on my best smile). I even went so far as to audition with the large conglomeration in town that supplies actors for the shows at all the major theaters in town and got two callbacks (one hasn't happened yet, and the other director said she liked me and "wants to see me on stage", but didn't feel the desire to put me there for her show... apparently). I've applied to all the local AmeriCorps positions I thought suited me, tried all the local non-profits and my favorite shops downtown, and even went so far as to apply for positions at Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Old Navy... although, I'm the first to admit that I hope for a private local employer rather than an international corporation.

The biggest thing I've done, though, is really not that big at all. It's just another one of those things I've "always wanted to do" and finally just DID. I designed two different posters to hang up around town that advertise me as an artist available for a variety of commissions. Although I love art and creating for so many different reasons, it's one of those things that never seemed like a practical thing to depend on for an income. I know that Olympia is an artist's town. I'd probably cry if I heard the self-described "artist" to "non-artist" ratio in town (half in happiness and half in desperation). It's not the sort of place where people can't find some friend to help them with that poster/album cover/canvas/mural/Christmas card/etc. I just realized that I have nothing to lose. If there were ever going to be a place where someone might tear off a tab of paper with contact info for an artist to help them with something, this is the place. (OH, OH, I'm watching a woman read over the ad I put on the coffeehouse cork board across from me!!) While I seek a "real job", I have nothing to lose but the two dollars in fees to copy the signs and the couple hours of staring at the paper while I made the sign. I'm thrilled at myself for having finally done it... and terrified that it will get no response.

Both are good feelings for me to have.

The cafe is closing now, so I will head out, but remind me to tell you about my brother's visit... and all the semi-interesting things that have happened to me since I last wrote.

Love, love, love!

Lauren