2012 Goals
January 24, 2012 § Leave a Comment
This is the fourth week in January, but I don’t think that it’s too late to set goals for myself for the year. I’ve divided my goals into personal and professional goals that I’ll be working on achieving throughout the year.
Personal Goals:
Self-Acceptance – For the past few years, I’ve been working on change and trying to be a “better person”. The truth is that I am who I am and I’ve chosen to accept that. I want to grow as a person who is secure in who they are.
Daily Writing – Writing is my favorite hobby and I’ve gotten away from it again. I plan to write each day for 30 – 60 minutes on whatever comes to mind.
Join a Spanish Language Group – I’ve participated in a Spanish language group in the past but I would only show up once or twice a year. This year I am going to participate each month. I enjoy going to these groups to speak Spanish with other language lovers.
Professional Goals:
Find a new job – This week I’ve started looking for a new job that will be more of a fit for my interests and values. I plan to devote time each week to job hunting.
Continue with my studies – I will continue taking classes and working towards achieving my graduate degree. Even though working full-time and going to school are a challenge, I’m committed to my studies.
Time-management – I am an organized person but over the past few months I’ve been struggling with a heavy workload. I took a time management training at work and I’ve been using the strategies to be more productive.
Office Holiday Parties
December 4, 2011 § 2 Comments
As far as I can remember, I have never attended the office holiday parties for any of the companies I’ve worked for. Unlike the majority of my co-workers, I’ve never felt a need to attend these parties especially because I normally don’t socialize with the people I work with outside of work. I’ve always been the type of person that keeps my work life separate from my personal life. Since I work with these people Monday – Friday, I don’t want to see them on the weekends. I’m also not good with small talk and I dread the uncomfortable and awkward interactions that happen during these events.
Another big reason why I don’t attend holiday parties is because of my diet. I was raised eating a kosher-type diet and most people don’t eat the way I do. I never expect people to accommodate me and it’s a lot easier to not attend these events then having to explain why I do or do not eat certain foods. On top of my kosher diet, I’m allergic to nuts. My nut allergy can be serious so I have to be very careful. Basically, I’m not always able to eat the foods served at these events.
After each office holiday party, there is always a lot of gossip about how someone got drunk and started acting out. I detest gossip and I’m always happy I wasn’t there to witness anything that happened.
Ultimately, I don’t believe I’m missing out on anything important by not attending the office holiday party. I’d rather spend time with my family and close friends, which is what the holidays are about.
Translation Blogging
October 19, 2011 § 3 Comments
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about why I blog anonymously and how I want to maintain my privacy. Last week in my translation class, we began discussing the translation profession. One of the ways that many freelance translators seem to market themselves is through their blogs. My professor has an excellent blog on the translation profession and I’ve been discovering other translation blogs as well. I’ve noticed that these bloggers use their real names and discuss their professional lives which makes sense because they are trying to market themselves but this is still something I’m uncomfortable with.
I’ve often thought about doing a separate blog on my journey from studying to be a translator to actually becoming one and I’ve even considered using my real name. However, I’m still uncomfortable with this idea and now I’m wondering if my need for privacy could potentially affect my career. I’m sure there are many translators who don’t blog and this probably isn’t even an issue for them. I’m also sure I could come up with alternative ways to market myself. I just wonder if maybe I need to step outside of my comfort zone and try something different. Thankfully, this isn’t something I need to figure out today but it’s something think about for the future.
Related articles
- Translation and Interpretation (myintrovertedlife.wordpress.com)
- Finding My Passion (myintrovertedlife.wordpress.com)
Me, In a Nutshell
October 10, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Quiet, reserved, introverted, creative, sincere
Gossip
October 10, 2011 § 4 Comments
I don’t like gossip and this is always a problem in every job I’ve had. One of the things I really liked about my current job was that there weren’t many people who gossiped but that changed recently. I don’t participate in gossiping and I don’t even want to hear it. There is nothing to be gained from listening to it and I’m not the type of person that thrives off of someone’s misfortune. This topic has been on my mind a lot recently and I listened to a talk about why people gossip. I learned that there are three reasons why people gossip: anger, life paths, and overwhelming shame.
Anger: When people have a lot of anger or low self-esteem then gossiping about someone else can make them feel better about themselves.
Life paths: This happens when one person becomes jealous of another person’s success. They see how another person’s career or personal relationships are taking off and it makes them feel less than since they aren’t on the same level as that person. Gossip becomes a mean of putting that person down and making them seem not as successful as they are.
Overwhelming shame: This is when a person uses gossip to deflect from the overwhelming shame that they feel inside.
I believe that one of the ways to overcome gossiping is to invest in your own life. Working on overcoming anger, low self-esteem, and shame takes time but it’s worth the intense work to become a confident person. Setting goals and working on a career can help someone to develop a path in life. It also helps to understand that not everyone has the same purpose in life and to follow your own path.
Related articles
- Why We Gossip – And How to Stop. (mararose10.wordpress.com)
- Do You Gossip? (fashiondujourdaily.wordpress.com)
My Blogging Method
September 23, 2011 § 6 Comments
I started thinking about how I blog and how I decide to post something. I don’t have an elaborate method and it was important to me when I started blogging that I blogged the way that I wanted to. At first, I was a perfectionist with each post and I agonized over every word. Now I just write and then I immediately post the entry. I just have to trust that what I write has meaning. I’ve learned that I’m not a good judge as to whether or not a post I write is good or bad. I mostly write about my life and what’s on my mind at that moment. I write about being extremely introverted and the issues and misunderstandings that happen because of my personality. I also write about work and school which are also important parts of my life.
This year I challenged myself to post something each week but I honestly post when I feel like it. Some weeks I write a lot and some weeks I write nothing at all. I prefer to write my posts during the week. This can be difficult with work and school but it gives me a chance to write about something that is important to me. In the past, I would try to write my blog posts during the weekends but I prefer to use my weekends for my other artistic projects that I’m not able to engage in during the week.
The Number Four
September 23, 2011 § Leave a Comment
This topic is from The Daily Post
The number four was the first number that came to mind. It’s a perfect number to me and here are four examples of the number four in my life.
- It’s the ideal number for a circle of friends: I prefer to hang out with my friends one-on-one but hanging out with a circle of four friends is also fun. I think it’s ideal because there are two pairs and no one is left out of the conversation.
- Four notebooks: I use four separate notebooks at the same time. One I use to write down my topic ideas for my blog, one is for my notes for class, one is a journal that I write in almost every day, and one is a notebook that I use to keep ongoing lists in (shopping lists, to do lists, etc).
- The number of service awards on my desk at work: I was recently awarded five service awards at my job but I kept four awards on my desk and I brought one home with me. I’m not the kind of person who needs to receive awards to feel appreciated; however it’s nice to be recognized.
-The day my sibling was born: My sibling was born on the fourth so that number always stays in my mind.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Faces
September 16, 2011 § 1 Comment
The three photos are from the Native American Art collection at the Denver Art Museum. I love totem poles and masks but especially totem poles. My interest in them was so strong that I actually took a class to study them and understand their history and how they are made.
Totem Pole from the Native American Art Collection at the Denver Art Museum
Another totem pole from the same collection.
An mask from the Native American Art Collection and the Denver Art Museum
Are You Okay?
September 15, 2011 § Leave a Comment
“Are you OK?” I swear this is the most insincere question that the people I work with ask me and I’m asked this question at least twice a week. Why? It’s because I’m not as talkative or as outgoing as the people around me. It’s a question that I’m asked when someone feels that I’m not paying as much attention to them or when I’m not responding in an overly emotional way. I’m a quiet person and this is just who I am. I don’t have time for small talk or gossip and I’d rather sit at my desk and get my work done than to get caught up in office politics. Maybe this seems strange to my co-workers and many of them go out of there way to come into my office to ask if I’m ok.
This question is insincere because it’s not as if they actually care about my well-being or are genuinely concerned that something serious might be going on. Maybe my silence makes them insecure as it does with a lot of people. Not everyone is comfortable with having someone in their presence who talks very little or not at all. This question also implies (in my opinion) that something is wrong with being quiet. One has to be loud and talking all the time to be happy and if a person is quiet then something must be wrong.
In the past, when I was asked this question, I would offer up some kind of excuse for being a quiet person. I would say things like, “I’m really busy” or “I have a deadline”. Not anymore. Now I simply reply, “Yes, I’m Ok” and wait for them to leave. There is nothing wrong with my quiet nature and there is nothing wrong with sitting at my desk and getting work done and I don’t need to offer any excuse for that. I’ve had a few co-workers that I’ve politely requested that they stop coming into my office and asking me if I’m ok. My behavior hasn’t changed from the first day that I’ve started working for this company and there is no reason for them to keep asking me the same question each week.
I find more and more that I’m becoming unapologetically bold in my quest for self-acceptance and in the fact that I want others to accept me for the way that I am as well. Not everyone was meant to be talkative all the time. There are many people in this life, such as myself, who were given the gift of silence and to be a quieter and calmer presence in the lives of others.
Finding My Passion
September 15, 2011 § 4 Comments
I’ve always been very passionate about my hobbies (writing, collecting postcards, and painting) but I was never passionate about my career. I think that was because I’ve just been floating from job to job just to survive and it seemed like I would never find a career that fit me. I’ve always had dreams of becoming a writer, owning a bookstore, and even working as a translator but all of these possibilities were almost unobtainable (in my opinion) and I think I was just stuck in a rut of going to work and coming home. At the beginning to this year, I decided that I wanted to make some major changes in my life and one of the things I’ve done was to start taking courses to work towards a graduate degree in Spanish translation.
I’ve started taking a translation class this week and already I’m learning so much and I’m very excited and enthusiastic about this class and future classes. I’m even interested in connecting to other translation students which is something that I’m not normally interested in (connecting with strangers). I’ve even had dinner with a fellow translation student and I’ve learned a lot from her on the classes, expectations, and professional organizations I can join. This is a huge change in my perspective because I would never try to network or join any type of professional organization for the career field I’m working in now. My heart isn’t in my current profession and I have no interest in gaining further knowledge in this area.
I used to get annoyed with the people that I worked with in the past who would eagerly attend conferences, happy hours, and networking events but now I understand. They were passionate about their career and wanted to meet other people who shared their same interests. I’ve worked with people in the past who would attend continuing education courses and others who had even done research and were published. Now these are goals that I have for myself. Every morning I wake up excited and my mind is full of questions. I think it’s because I’m working toward a purpose. The thought of attending a conference or a training event is actually something I really want to do. I’m also going to join the local profession organization for translators in my city. I’ve also been reading as many blogs and books as I can on the subjects of translation and interpretation.
There is a quote that is credited to Confucius that say, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. This is something I’m beginning to believe. It’s a struggle to get out to the bed most morning because I spend a large portion of my day working in a career that I’m not meant to be in. I can only imagine the change that I’ll feel once I start to work as a translator.
