Vision

Vision Sunday

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I’m attempting to put together a planner binder for work and other priorities. I looked at a lot of professional type planners and it seems like the best still require much individualized organization. Also, I’ve been gravitating towards gold lately which is strange because I used to not like gold.

I’ve been craving carbs the last four days. And I think my bad headache yesterday was from not eating anything more than two eggs and some cottage cheese for most of the day. The pizza I had for dinner was a welcome cheat meal. On the positive side, having eaten nothing else for the day, it was still a low carb day.

I have a packed week coming up with only Tuesday being slightly more unscheduled. I’m planning on going to a car buying seminar. My brother has keys to his new apartment but hasn’t bothered moving anything this weekend. I could have helped him move most of his stuff but I won’t be available during the week.

I’m on my own search for apartments and vehicles. I think I found a good apartment but it’s in Green Bay and I really didn’t want to live in Green Bay. I wanted to live in De Pere but the apartments are too expensive and none of them are available right now.

March 10th is the Town Hall meeting for Kids in Crisis, the newspaper’s awareness campaign for youth and mental health services in the community. I have to see if I’m available to attend. I also have to see if I’m available to read my poem at the City Council meeting on the 16th.

Vision Sunday

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I’m in the process of figuring out my new normal. Being a full-time MSW Social Worker with a less traditional work schedule will take some time.

Yesterday I did some repacking of my things. Now my stuff is a bit more organized than it was when it was all just shoved in my closet.

I have missed the last three days of blog posts. And I am figuring out if I can still sustain daily posts. What I would like to do is two weekly posts about advocacy and my two weekend posts about art and vision. This blog was created as not only a personal brand but also as a networking tool to find a job. So I want to continue the networking portion and the personal brand portion.

I had a good workout today. I stopped when I almost wrecked my shoulder doing tricep pull-downs. Now I’m going to enjoy some homemade pumpkin and banana nut waffles.

I have a few things to do to be ready for this coming work week and then I’m off to this new normal.

Why I Started This Brand/Blog

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The following YouTube video from Full Sail University is why I got up the guts to start this website, my personal brand across other social media outlets, and this daily blog.

I still re-watch this video from time to time to remind myself to remain dedicated and disciplined in everything that I do. Unfortunately it can be difficult to remain on top of everything every day. But I’ve been able to stay on a daily posting basis, even if I forget and post a little bit into the next day such as today.

With my social work prospects, I want to continue to write about policymakers and community-based resources. I also want to do some journalistic interviews with managers and supervisors. I just hope I haven’t burnt that bridge before I attempt to cross it. My natural inclination is to play devil’s advocate so that I can see both sides of an issue.

Anyways, I hope this video helps you out in your professional development and personal goals. It has certainly helped me in both areas of my life.

Vision Sunday

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I had a bit of a freak out Friday night thru Saturday morning. It was work-related and then I felt sick. The lesson learned is not to overthink and let setbacks become failures.

Yesterday I posted three poems for Appleton’s sidewalk poetry program. Another goal that I have followed through to completion.

I woke up this Sunday weighing 129.6 pounds. This is my lowest weight since high school. So I guess having two low carb days in a row is working. I haven’t even been doing cardio on my non-lifting days. I still have 10 weeks left before Showdown.

Today I sent in my poem for the sidewalk poetry. I’m also enjoying some Sienna Bakery cookies from GFS; arguably the best cookies in the world. You buy them frozen and all you have to do is let them thaw. But they are high in fat.

I really like where my life is at. Valentine’s Day isn’t what it was in the past. I am more confident and less fixated on comparing myself to others, especially the good things which seem to only make themselves available on social media accounts.

Vision Sunday

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I went back to carb cycling. Thursday and Friday were low carb days while Saturday was a high carb day. Yesterday I ate about half a pound of home made almond butter after I had consumed my high carbs. I also wasn’t able to workout  yesterday. Today is Super Bowl Sunday. It’s also a low carb day. I had my vitamins and my caffeine and then someone made a microwavable cinnamon roll for me. I worked out a little bit today and will do some more later.

This upcoming week is going to be busy; too busy for me to have time to dwell on being single on Valentine’s Day. Although I see a lot of positive changes coming soon and throughout this year. I am always excited about these Sunday posts and reinvigorating a sense of passion and hard work. When I told my academic reference that I had been accepted into graduate school (upon arrival of a bouquet of blue irises being delivered to her office as a thank you), she told me I would bring maturity and perspective to my cohort. I try and remind myself what others think I bring to the table so that I remain confident and determined.

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SW Policy and Politics

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As I was watching the Democratic Debate tonight, I was thinking about the very few social workers I know that are involved in policy work and political change. I think people too often want to box in the field of social work in advocacy of youth.

I am very much into working on policy changes within social work. I wouldn’t have fought so hard and succeeded against my graduate program when they openly discriminated against students with disabilities. My favorite professor in graduate school was my advanced policy instructor. She was very politically involved. She encouraged me to be brave in my advocacy and continue to raise my voice for positive social change.

In the past I’ve been involved in political and social policy change campaigns. I’ve done door to door canvassing, phone bank calling on election day, community interfaith events, and initialized local action groups for larger statewide campaigns.

The majority of the news I pay attention to is political news. So I am unfazed when political candidates make grand campaign promises. I know that the most successful political and social changes occur in grassroots efforts. Which means at the local community levels.

I used to be inclined to burn bridges when it came to my style of advocacy. However I promised myself that I would stop doing that when I began this blog and this personal brand. It’s funny, Abraham Lincoln used to write very angry letters to people that he got mad at until he was challenged to a duel. After that his tune changed and he was more civilized in his ways of dealing with confrontations.

Vision Sunday

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Today I read through all of Brian Tracy’s 100 Laws of Business Success and took notes. Then I quickly reviewed and jotted down Carnegie’s points in How to Win Friends. Now I’m moving on to Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I read books on my phone, so I take notes so I can have something to review later.

My week is planned out except for the snow storm we’re supposed to get Tuesday and Wednesday. I have some things for work to finish up and catch people up on my progress so far. My drive to work which is about 20 minutes has become more comfortable.

Yesterday before I went to the Cancer Center open house, I went and bought my own personal body weight scale and a food scale. My new scale measures to the hundredth if I remember my math knowledge correctly (000.00) which is less stressful than only seeing every half pound. As for the food scale, I have already been surprised about how grossly off my guesstimating has been about my food consumption. For example, what I counted as a medium banana is actually a large banana.

I received the final paperwork to file my taxes, so I gathered it all up to mail in early. I was so depressed to see what I actually made last year but I’m still really good about saving money and not spending it on frivolous things.

I’ve been back and forth about going back to carb cycling but doing it in a 3 day process. I was doing it every other day and I was miserable on low days. I think my downfall in carb consumption is my love for morning oatmeal and a banana which is about 85 grams of carbs. But then the rest of my 200 grams are consumed at dinner which probably isn’t good, however on non-lifting days I do night time cardio.

Fox Cities Showdown in Oshkosh is officially twelve weeks away. So now I really need to push myself. I think I need to up my calories by 100 or 200 because I’ve been at a plateau for a few weeks now.

Env’tal Psych & Thedacare Cancer Center

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I went to the open house for the new Thedacare Cancer Center. I went there with an eye for architecture and design that welcomes clients and provides an open, safe, and non-clinical environment.

The wood slats across the upper windows is dual purpose for aesthetics and also preventing the sun to bake clients and employees. A design aspect that was overlooked at Encircle. Much of the artificial light is balanced with an abundance of natural sources through windows and skylights.

I’m not sure if I would have approved of a plant scheme throughout the space whose common name is “Mother-in-law’s tongue!” However it is nice to see real greenery throughout rather than artificial.

The colors and textures throughout blend together very nicely. All of the art prints on the walls are metal or canvas, so they can be cleaned and sanitized. They said that most of the art came from local artists. Another reason why I went was to see if they needed any nature photography. Because if you go to Encircle’s Mammography department, you’ll see a collection of 35 flower photos of mine that I gave them to fulfill the natural feeling they needed.

I absolutely loved that clients had the choice between receiving their chemotherapy in an open group environment or a private room. I think the open space option really lends to a community support atmosphere. You never want to feel like you’re alone, and the open concept really lends to opportunities for connecting with other families going through the same circumstances.

The only thing I didn’t like was the dark yellow cream paint color near where the radiation machine is located. I’m not sure if it was a purposeful color choice for the presence of radiation. I would suggest a different color. Maybe a vinyl brown wood or brown which is used as an accent wall across from two patients’ cancer survival stories. As soon as I saw that dark yellow cream color I had an operating room/surgical feeling in my gut. It was an immediate trigger in my brain.

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To Be Underestimated

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“It’s actually wonderful to be underestimated.”~Jack Canfield.

I’ve been thinking a lot about an interview I had with Outagamie County Shelter Care back in October. The supervisor was a fellow classmate from the same MSW program. I was told that someone with more social service experience was ultimately hired. The biggest thing was that the job I was interviewing for required a less advanced degree. Also, at the time I was doing a job that required more responsibility than what I was potentially going to be required to perform.

Currently I am working on social service policy implementation in a clinical/behavioral health environment. I’m in  charge of enrolling an agency and staff into an unfamiliar billing and rendering service.

This blog was the catalyst for being considered for the current project. Among having previous experience working within the agency. It feels good to be trusted to perform in a leadership role. Leaders don’t need to be constantly supervised to work. It’s refreshing to be able to prove the misconceptions of others wrong.

Vision Sunday

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I’m back at 130 lbs which has been my lightest in the past year. Twelve weeks until Fox Cities Showdown. My temps in HS said I weighed 125 lbs. I think I’ll drop below that by competition time.

Every day it’s either lifting or cardio and I get it in whenever I can even if it’s late. I listen to people talk about how they created their brands instead of listening to music. I don’t watch television, at least on a regular basis. I’ll catch a few shows like Greys Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder or Project Runway; those are all Thursday shows. Don’t ask me about all the other popular shows or movies because I haven’t seen them.

After writing yesterday’s post, I started some Basil seeds so I can watch something grow instead of watering houseplants that don’t do anything but collect dust.

I spent some time this weekend trying to find a blazer that fits me. I’m so short and skinny that I need a 36. No one carries size 36 blazers or size 29 dress pants. I even tried the kids section but the biggest size they had was 18. Usually I can go to Walmart and buy some size 20 t-shirts in the kids section to make some stringers. I found out that I need to go get my dress shirts tailored to get some darts put in the back.

Tonight, there were mozzarella sticks and onion rings for the NFL games. I enjoyed them and I fit them in to my calories and then I did my cardio. I will not falter in this journey. 2016 will be the year when people look back and say I woke up and discovered that I am powerful beyond measure.

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