Oceans of Opportunities

To some the economy appears dismal. Others have found a new way to work and are reinventing themselves and the job market itself- one person at a time. I’m one of those supremely fortunate people, who clutched a life raft called “freelance” and sailed to shore.

I’m not alone.

There are millions like me who have been able to make sense of their own lives when the big corporate waters around them were choppy and tumultuous. We now gladly captain our own unique and individual ships. This is a course of uncharted freedom and exciting destinations.

It’s a trade wind worth following.

What is this “New Way to Work”? It’s a means to thrive even in the midst of an economic storm. The new way to work matches skills and talent with global employers as no other career movement has before. I’m thrilled to be riding the crest of the workforce wave of the future.

Freelancing now spans the globe, linking client to highly qualified service providers worldwide with cutting edge technology. Gone are the mental images of bathrobe clad folks bleary in front of their computers. These contract professionals are the trendsetters and talented who know the marketplace is global, not corporate.

This wasn’t my port of call initially. The ship I’d been a passenger on, The USS Traditional Career, simply sank slowly to its demise into a sea of economically murky waters. I was left, clinging at age 44 to a small floating shred of dignity, the wreckage of my former job and five children to support.

As a stage III cancer survivor and single parent, I’d spent years building a successful career with few resources or finances. The thought of transitioning again, with children in tow, struck a genuine chord of fear in me.

My field of expertise is industrial safety and hygiene, which is a highly skilled but niche market.  I had years of compliance and safety as a national trainer, technical writer and developer of government required programs. Certainly there were clients who would value my education and background- I just had to find them. This meant I had to move from small traditional career inlets and into the wider open seas of opportunity.

In a search one night, I discovered several intriguing sites that changed my course and my thinking. Among them, Elance, who brought the ability to reach the broadest network of employers and offered me ready assistance.

Within a few weeks I linked to clients across the country. I sold my first articles to publishers I’d never have reached years ago without the technology of this new way of working. Later, I began developing programs, consulting and working for clients internationally in web content, blogging and marketing their products, ideas or sites.

Along the way, I continually find global colleagues that inspire, encourage and assist me in my new career and clients worldwide I consider friends and co-partners in enhancing their business.

Like many others, I’ve brought my own life to a calm place in the midst of this economic hurricane and pursued my dreams. Forget the stigma of “starving writer”- that too has been revolutionized by this newest way of spanning career horizons.

We, who freelance-whether writer, graphic artist or any number of qualified professionals-are not choosing a second best career option. We’ve started a revolution and we’re reclaiming our lives with each satisfied client, project and paycheck.

If mainstream career waters aren’t taking you where you want to travel, maybe it’s time to trim the sails and head into the winds of change- the new way to work in a worldwide ocean of opportunities.

I’m thrilled that Ellen DeGeneres has been picked as a new judge on American Idol’s upcoming season. Frankly, Paula reminds me of the former gluttonous economy and I’m sick of looking at her. I’ll pause here for a moment, (while you get the Kleenex out), long enough to state I like Paula’s personality, in her own overly emotional, overly done, manner.

But I’m weary of anything “over the top”.

I just want normal, down to earth and simple. The move to put Ms. DeGeneres in the judging seat, to me is a way of reclaiming those virtues. Ellen’s street smart, but not a cynic. She enjoys basic pleasures of life, (like dancing in her tennis shoes). I think she can grapple any issue, (even Simon) with intellect, not emotion.

Again, personally, this just symbolizes a move toward those down to earth virtues. What got us in fiscal trouble as a nation were in many cases those emotional purchases and the overly done lifestyles many have been living. Did we have to remodel (again)? Did we really need the payment on a gas hogging brand new SUV?  

When I think of Paula, on Idol, I feel like a child who, having unwrapped the brightly packaged gifts, is weary of the process. We’ve collectively played briefly with the elaborate, expensive toys, and now we’re moving on to simple pleasures again. My own kids have celebrated playing with cardboard boxes more than the lavish toys we’ve piled on them in the past.

In this economy Ellen is easier on the eyes. I don’t want to see “over the top” for a while. It makes me queasy, like a flashback to my checkbook register, in days before I learned to get a grip on mass purchases.

And to get us out of this fiscal mess, it’s gonna take intelligence, not emotion. All these issues we face as a nation need to be looked at armed with statistics, not opinions borne of hearsay and feelings. It takes grit to pick up the rubble and move forward, not Kleenex and crying fits. Ellen? Well, she fits the bill for what we all need, not just on Idol, but in real life- a little grit, some raw intelligence and loving the simple joys of life, once again. Save the Kleenex, we’re done crying. Now it’s time to move forward.

Whenever a celebrity dies, it always amazes me the tears from the public, the massive media coverage and the strong opinions of individuals who had zero personal relationship with the deceased celebrity. Zero.

Reality check time, folks.

I got in a Facebook fight the other day with someone who told me, “Don’t be flippant. People are mourning.”  My question would be, “What are you mourning”?

Lest you think me some heartless soul, I did cry when Princess Diana died. I shed a tear and offered a prayer for Mother Teresa, as well. Why did I cry? Their lives inspired me to be a better human being. They rose above odds to find their niche making the world a better place.  

I typically mourn people for two reasons; if I knew them personally or if they impacted me to live larger and greater as a person.

 But where I don’t understand the human race in general is in this eulogizing star factor.  On the same day Michael Jackson passed, roughly 146K non-celebrities died.  Many of these normal folks will be missed for noble reasons we as a culture may never know.  

I am sure several thousand deceased had more inspiring stories than many headlined celebrities.  For the most part, I’d rather see in the news feeds, one person a day, with a moving life/death story who wasn’t famous than 280K articles and blips about stars and mourning, despondent fans.

I know I am stepping on toes by saying so.

When it comes down to it, at the end of this journey we call life, every one of us leaves behind a legacy of sorts. Unless you’re in Michael Jackson’s will or knew him personally, odds are his legacy to you is his music, his influence on pop and, umm, that’s it. I can say I respected the man for his dancing, for being a showman of unprecedented abilities and for impacting an entire culture to get up and move ala Michael.

 I loved his music. I did.  

 On the flip side, I found him weird as a person.   Wrapping his own kids in veils much of their lives, feeling compelled to sleep in bed with children, perpetually a juvenile in an adult’s body, and living about 30 million beyond budget a year, do not impress me. Sorry. Maybe if I knew him, my feelings would be different. It’s possible there was a whole other Michael the media didn’t portray.

Did Michael Jackson motivate me to be a better human?  That would be like me saying I am inspired by Britney Spears parenting.

What did Michael Jackson leave me as a legacy? Several tunes to sing out loud, some dance moves to emulate and a fondness for red zipper jackets.  

Then there’s Farrah Fawcett. It pains me to see both names in a row, because they represent a loss, each in their respective way.  Somehow these deaths and lives bear a striking contrast, almost a correlation of cosmic opposites. 

Michael’s death was startling and unexpected. Farrah’s, which came after a well publicized fight against cancer, was not totally unforeseen.

 Each of these celebrities was a cultural icon.

 Nearly every person on the planet knows what the Moonwalk is.  Michael Jackson left his mark in the way of dance and glitz. He started as the kid from Gary, Indiana who “made it”.

Though a no-brainer show, Charles Angels was the launching point for Farrah’s stardom. The majority of girls in the 70’s emulated Farrah Fawcett hair, (and wished for her body). Not to mention most males having “the poster” as a central part of their décor and fantasies at one point or another.

One started as a rising child star and the other began being portrayed as a somewhat ditzy female bombshell. Here’s where I feel the legacy difference began in earnest.

As Michael Jackson aged it was like he regressed or attempted to reject being an adult. There is little “adult” about his life and pleasures. What was attractive in a kid is vastly distasteful in a supposedly mature man.

However, as Farrah matured, she left the ditzy blond image behind and became a woman of substance, integrity and yes, inspiration. I will never forget being blown away by her depth of acting in the Burning Bed. Wow! She could say more than, “Hello Charlie”. 

 Some might argue posing for Playboy at age 48 was shameless, but I see it as the woman side of her.  And I respect her for that. How many of us aging baby boomers would like to be considered sexy at 40 anything?

What I will remember her for, was using her cancer to create an open format for others to see the whole side of chemo, surgery and treatments.

She was noble in her pain. Courage is not the absence of fear; it is action in the face of it. To me, Farrah displayed great courage. She was open in her fight, her pain and her hopes. We “knew her” as best as we can a celebrity.  Farrah did not lose the fight. She won the hearts of many. She died a victor of life, leaving us a legacy of valor in the face of our own inevitable deaths.

Michael’s life and death are perhaps always going to be cloaked in secrecy. Do any of us really know for fact the “skin” condition he had? Or why his features changed faster than the stock market? Will we ever know the truth of the conflicting stories of his cardiac failure? Probably not.  He lived in mystery and died amidst it.

And frankly, I find Michael as a victim of fame and life, while I believe Farrah to be a conqueror by facing her pain and sharing it. I see one of these celebrities leaving a legacy of courage, the other left a last will and testament to great music. Each will be missed, but only one captures my soul with an inspirational legacy.

I pray I die with the courage of Farrah, as open and as strong. I hope those who mourn me, miss the real person I was. I wanna dance like Michael, and die like Farrah.

This brings me to the question we all should ask, every day- “What’s my legacy to the world?”