What Am I Getting Into, Now?

For the past year or so, my life has been anything but ordinary. I have had so many new experiences that I would never have asked to have! I wish I could say I learned some wonderous life lesson from the past year, but in all honesty, I feel like I am pretty much the same person I have always been. I don't think I have been changed by the curveballs life threw in my path. I have had to consciously incorporate mindful routines to mitigate the anxiety that everything caused, which lead me to starting this blog and starting to become a budding social media micro influencer. That part, however, is very exciting. So, I suppose there are positive take-aways from everything, even the things that break your heart and try to break your spirit. And so, my life is again on a forward-moving trajectory after a year of being stagnant. I used to have a very busy schedule. I have worked multiple jobs, dedicated hours to dance classes, and been in school since I was 16 - that is 20 years of mostly non-stop running around. I have had some respite in between, and this past year has been a very strange type of that. But now I have rested, and my zest for being an overachiever has returned. What I do want to be cognizant of in my growing schedule is my practice of mindfulness. I honestly believe that this awareness will allow me to maintain the busy schedule I love as a single person, while keeping my mental health a priority. I just have to figure out what that mindfulness will look like as the winter is upon us and my routine will be much more regimented.

So, what is this new routine? Well, all the wonderful things that have been happening recently I am extremely excited to share with you! First, I have accepted a job offer in my field as a full time GIS Technician. I am working for an environmental consulting agency, and I am beyond thrilled. Not only is this my career path, but the type of work I will be doing within GIS is something I am passionate about - the environment. I honestly couldn't be more happy with this job. I can see myself being with this company for a long time, and I am excited to grow my talents alongside the goals of this company. Second, I am still able to work on my non-profit GIS work with cat rescues in Chicagoland. My master's thesis was a study I created on T-N-R (trap-neuter-return) in Chicagoland. I am one of those proud crazy cat ladies, environmental vegetarian, save all the trees and pray to Mother Earth kinda gals. So, I am working with a cat rescue right now creating web maps for their T-N-R and rescue cat data. My hope is to be able to do this for all the big rescue organizations around Chicago and really create a data hub that will bring all these T-N-R efforts together and make the process fluid, efficient, and organized. My small non-profit GIS venture is called Cat Maps. I am also actively looking for sponsors to make these efforts sustainable. If you or anyone you know would be interested in sponsoring Cat Maps and putting T-N-R on the map, let's chat! Send me an email @ CatMapsChicago@gmail.com. I will make another post dedicated to my ventures in Cat Maps in the near future, so keep an eye out! If you are not able to be a sponsor, but would still like to donate to this fabulous effort, any contribution would be so appreciated to sustain the efforts of map-making in the name of feral felines. You can donate through the website, or click here. I will be so very grateful, and so will the cats! 

Third, I am becoming a budding social media micro influencer! This is SO kool! I have already done a couple of collaborations, and have a few more scheduled on the books, and another awaiting confirmation. Please subscribe/follow on YouTube and Insta. My handle is @PaganBallerina. My public Social Media is following Spa/Self-Care/Spiritual Wellness/Singing. I love what this is starting to turn into. I love that I am becoming an influencer, promoting things that I appreciate and that make me feel good. The singing is touch and go. I am so shy, and I recently hit an emotional snag that seems to have put that knot in my throat again, and I just can't sing more quite yet. I will start slow, by adding narration to my videos instead of just pictures and background music. Then, hopefully, I can find my singing voice again. I love it, when I can do it. It really makes me happy. Fourth and finally, I am blogging my journey right here!

My geared up schedule is something like this:
M-F, 8-5 kicking ass as a GIS green witch | M-F, getting gym time in after work | Working on Cat Maps & Micro Influencer fabulousness on Friday nights & weekends | Healthy (vegetarian) grocery shopping | Making time to socialize with friends | Open to starting to date again (but, like, when??)

I may write a piece about love and loss. It has been over two years since my partner passed away, and I may want to write about it a little, but I'm not sure yet. 

Thank you so much for being part of my journey! Leave me a comment below - I would love to hear from you!

If you appreciate having this consistent content, would you consider supporting my work? You can "Buy Me A Coffee" and I will be SO grateful. If you leave your name, I can give you a shout out in the next blog post! 

Mindfully,
~Amanda

___________________________________

Amanda Vander Kelen, MA is a geographer/GIS Specialist and now blogger. She creates a work/life balance by using her creativity in both making maps and writing blogs. Taking a mindful approach to life, she hopes you can utilize her writing to help create a peaceful space of your own.
To show support for this blog, would you consider donating? Donate here.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Amanda Vander Kelen - Mindfulness in Motion: Melding Geographic Thought and Therapeutic Practices

Hello! My name is Amanda Vander Kelen, welcome to my blog! Here, you will find my posts about mindfulness, meditation, apartment plants, and other good life things. I am currently applying for jobs in my field, and decided to share my techniques for staying peaceful during such a daunting process.  I have taken to doing almost daily mindfulness walks in nature. I find this is a great way to stay grounded and present. I end up doing these in the later part of my day, after scrolling through new job listings, writing cover letters, and sending out job applications. What I notice is that it really helps me to stay mindful and peaceful, feel confident with my daily task accomplishments, and end the day feeling hopeful.  While on one of my walks, I started to think more about what it means to be mindful. Coming at this from the perspective of a Geographer (I have a master's degree in Geography & Environmental Studies), I began to think of mindfulness as something that is consta...
Read more

Staying Positive Amidst Uncertainty by: Amanda Vander Kelen

Staying positive during uncertainty is probably when it is most important, and yet most difficult. What I have discovered about myself in this process, and what I hope could be helpful for at least one person reading this, is that it is not a linear process. Sometimes, in order to achieve the positive space, you have to create it. Sometimes, you have to fake it till you make it, and force it upon yourself. That may sound uncomfortable, and if so, you are correct. What do I mean by this? You might be thinking that being positive means feeling happy all the time. That isn't true. It can't be true. As all animals, we have a gamut of emotions and experiences. Those happen to exist alongside whatever is happening in our lives at any given moment. Oftentimes, when those experiences are too much for any one person, it becomes a "trauma" and, however great that trauma is in relation to our being means that it could coexist in our lives until we figure out the right healthy co...
Read more

Pema Chodron - Daily Meditation + Art - A Little Science Behind the Meditation

For two weeks, I devoted 2 hours of my day to meditation and artwork. Now, I am not a professional artist in terms of drawing or painting. I am, however, trained in ballet and other styles of dance. I do like to draw. I started out practicing Zentangle a few years ago, and I like to do that as a hobby. I have been fortunate enough to have sold a few of my pieces, but that was when I was actively drawing at length every day. I pick it up when I need as another tool for anxiety. I was searching around for some guided meditation and I came across the work of Pema Chodron. I hadn't heard of her before this, and I literally just clicked on an audio book of hers and started to craft a self-guided daily meditation regiment following her series, "How To Meditate". Throughout this meditation journey I learned about Pema Chodron, her life, and her teachers. Pema is an American-born Buddhist nun and the fact that I stumbled upon her work and randomly selected it among my search resu...
Read more