is it still 2009?

Birthday party, sinus infection, new craft idea. Oh, and work.

I’m an organizational fiend. I like to sort and categorize, to compartmentalize and sectionalize. I like square and boxy things for tidy corners and unwasted spaces – even my tupperware cabinet is orderly (and I’ll organize yours, too, when you’re not looking). It’s more like an obsession than a skill (if it were a skill, I could turn it off). In fact, I’ve made a career of it bringing order to the companies I’ve worked for.

A few years ago, I discovered that not everyone’s mind can compartmentalize the same way and my obsessions were alienating people (or myself from them). I needed to find a way to communicate the order without compromising the human relationship. So, I decided that I wanted to shift my career towards sales to get a closer look at the dynamics of human relationships. The simplest transition was to find something I already knew how to do and apply it to a sales environment that could take advantage of those skills.

Calculating the dynamics between people – in the office, outside the office, the weather, their politics and what they had for dinner last night and the guy who cut them off in traffic just 30 minutes ago – is quite a challenge because I can’t predict it without knowing the person well and I certainly do a worse job with a billion other unknown variables. That’s the fun part, but I definitely feel I’m lacking the feeling of success I’ve gotten elsewhere and this challenge has brought me to a pressing need to do more arts & crafts – a time when I can be active and still be in silent reflection.

This year I’ve decided to combine this need with my organizational obsession and create some structure. My plan (I don’t expect to stick to it rigidly, but it’s good to have a plan) is to try a new technique once a week and tell you about it (hopefully through words and pictures). Here’s what I’ve got so far:

I put together a DAILY LOG where I can mark my personal goals for the day, a to do list, a calendar schedule, meals I’ve eaten and money I’ve spent (since I’m also trying to track my food and money), and a place to jot down some notes. I haven’t been successful in using it every day yet, but so far I used it to plan my daughter’s 18 birthday party – that was great. And I do have a chain link scarf pattern (which I hope to elaborate on next).

I’ll keep you posted (at least I intend to).

Hello, Blog

OK, I really want to blog. I’ve been hesitant because I feel exposed, but I am feeling a little more adventurous, so here I go…

I’m a serial hobbyist (it’s currently a career aspiration). I like to pick up new hobbies, study them intensely for some time and discover other hobbies I’d like to learn about along the way and once I’ve spent some time on it, I move on to one of the other things I have discovered that have made it to my list of things to explore. So, this will probably morph into many other things, but at the moment, I am interested in and intent to write about the following (not written in any special order):

• People (this one is a constant; I’m always excited about meeting new people)
• Crafting – bead jewelry making, knitting, crochet, sewing (I’d like to learn screen printing and soap making this year)
• Cooking AND Eating
• Biking (or alternative modes of transportation and excercise – it falls in both categories and I am generally interested in both categories)
• Organizing (it’s a compulsion, but I’ve made it a career, so most people call it a skill)

On that last point, I’ve recently realized that my arts & crafting have been very haphazard, so unlike my very structured corporate self. In the time I’ve been pursuing it, I have been more than frustrated most of the time and I thought to get myself more structured, so my first task for this year was to convert the skills from my office self and transform the crafter in me to the KarizMatic, people and organizationally-obsessed hobbyist.

My daughter, Kariel is about to turn 18 (Jan 9) and my goal this week is to survive and give her the best party I can afford (using her wish list).  I’ll let you know how it goes.