Comment by Tallgirl on January 15, 2011 at 2:18am

Thanks. I get scared because I don't want to be a wimp who doesn't follow through with things I say I want or am going to do...probably because so many have failed to come through for ME! (Aha...an insight!) Are unspoken "plans" called prayers or wishes? Or do people expect others to actually do whatever they deem as "plans?"

Comment by Norm on January 15, 2011 at 7:09am

Plans? What are they? Oh, I remember - they're those things that people make so that they can beat themselves or others up over later, cos they didn't pan out.
OK, so I'm being facetious.... but what I'm really getting at is to be realistic. There's nothing wrong with aiming for the stars, but you should always have a fall-back position you can adopt as well if things go pear-shaped! And too often, plans contain too much detail. You only really need the main objectives, with a little detail pertaining to the first of those, and then you can work on the others as they get closer.
But 5 years??? Who the L knows where they'll be in 5 years?? Unless your name's James T. Kirk and you're in Star Trek (with a 5-year mission to boldly, sorry, baldly, go...), anything with that timescale is called a "Wish List", and you've got to love deadlines... or at least, that "whooshing" sound they make as they go whizzing past :)


Anyway, it's quite satisfying to say "well, the reason things didn't go according to plan is cos there wasn't one".

Comment by Gail on January 15, 2011 at 1:09pm

Goals or plans are something spoken or written as a way of giving yourself a concrete path, a destination. The good thing about goals though, is that they can be amended along the way to allow for the variables that happen in everyone's world. The purpose of a goal (plan) is to have some accountability to yourself (and others) in its achievement, and the ability to recognize the need for an adjustment.

Write your career plan from a place of where you are today and would like to be in 5 years. You cannot take into account obstacles and variables to write the plan; that would be impossible. If you let those thoughts get in your way, you will have a blank page (trust me, I speak from experience).

Prayers or wishes? If you really want those "unspoken plans" to come about, I suggest verbalizing them or writing them down too. Makes them more real, more attainable.

Comment by Tallgirl on January 15, 2011 at 3:16pm

Okay...the college computers came back online last night, so I bit the bullet, read about 5 of other students' plans, and jumped into mine. I read and typed solidly from 7-11 pm, and did the whole shebang using the goals of (a) completing the credential I just started, (b) creating curriculum to combine art with special education for emotionally disturbed students, and (c) creating a contacts/resources file to help those teen students transition into arts employment after high school. We'll see if the special education college teacher accepts the focus on the art (my former profession). I can't let it go...I somehow want to put art back into my career so I can have my OWN therapy, pride and fun! Stephanie, Norm and Gail, in some respects I feel like I am too old and too broke to lose any more time or tuition to floundering in life...I need to be able to take care of myself and eat more decently than I have been. Heat would be nice. I like having a health plan and car. I have already gone where few women have gone before, and I cannot pretend that I have not accomplished what I already have, or that anyone else will take care of me. I may be fooled again. And I am already pear-shaped. But I digress.

Okay, maybe this exercise is just a time-filler, to train us HOW to write out a plan and name specific steps to success. Have I used EVERYTHING from all my past college assignments? No. I think I am flipped out because of the fears of the economy and future with my family, and so I "MUST" come up with a plan that will endure a location change (son and grandson may be "stationed" far away soon, but my state's credentials may be accepted in many other places. I will have to research that.). I want to stay sure I can be knowledgeable and active enough in a job for the next 10 years to pay off bills and still travel or purchase art equipment. Special Education is more of a sure thing than illustration for that...the art will be the hobby or retirement plan.

Comment by Tallgirl on January 15, 2011 at 3:35pm

P.S. I always key into those movies where the female character gets her come-uppance over plan-making or maintaining an identity: Anna in Leap Year, Sandy in Grease, the gal in Mistress of Spices, Pretty Woman (Yeah, I know. Julia Roberts...;) But, she DID go back to school...). Then there are the ones who surprise themselves with their creativity: Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, Betty in Ugly Betty, Diane Lane's characters in Under the Tuscan Sun and Nights in Rodanthe, Janie in It's Complicated. Stella needs to get her groove back...but not with the real-life ending that that true story had!

Comment by Gail on January 15, 2011 at 3:49pm

I think that weaving art into your work is a great idea. I would like to do the same and have thought about ways I can do that myself. I think art therapy is a wonderful approach for you to bring passion and profession together.

Your assignment MAY have been just a "time filling exercise," but look at the soul searching you have been doing! Your deep reflection has created new possibilities and more things to ponder!

And girlfriend, nobody is more paranoid than me about starting something something new at this stage, but it is what it is. I am about to embark on a new career that's going to HAVE to sustain me for the duration, so I understand your fears. We are strong, we will make it work.

Comment by Tallgirl on January 15, 2011 at 4:14pm

Too late for the art therapy (too much science, social work courses...over 3000 hours of internship, possible unpaid), but I want to take art EDUCATION to the limits by teaching it at places where I can put a bit more into it because of the population and emphasis on a therapeutic environment.

Comment by Angie P on January 19, 2011 at 12:08am

OMG, TallGirl, you're a Libra!!! **squeal** :)

Haha, it always seems that whenever I make plans, the Universe ends up doubled over in laughter at my folly.

Even so, by many measures, I already "have it all". Granted, I don't have all that I want, however I have all that I need at the moment.

Your assignment sounds tough. I really have no idea what I want to be when I grow up, so I'd be real hard-pressed to make a 1-year plan right now, much less a five-year plan.

Hmmm, sounds like you are fully aware of what gives you purpose. But a 5-year plan to get there??? I suppose just doing it and letting the chips fall where they may would be reckless, huh. <=== THE STORY OF MY LIFE. :)

I'm assuming you only had to begin by Sunday, and not be complete by Sunday. That would be too much pressure. :(

Comment by Tallgirl on January 19, 2011 at 12:19am

No. I had to complete by Sunday. I sort of made it up as I went along. Now I don't know how to send my power point slide presentation start to my classmates and instructor online from the college computer lab. I have been here 4 1/2 hours...no power point at home. Got to get home to sleep. Technology...ARGGGGGHHHHH!!!

Comment by Angie P on January 19, 2011 at 10:20pm

Oooo, sorry I didn't see this earlier. :( I could have sent it for you. I have a copy of Office 2007 that I think I've only installed once. Lemme know if you want to take a crack at it to have a copy at home. I can drop it in the mail. I'm about to uninstall it and install 2010 anyway. I get them from my work for $20. I have about 3 or 4 copies of MS Office laying around. :/.

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