Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.~Denis Waitley
Changes
Summer time is winding down, at least in a family with teenagers and where one spouse teaches high school… My daughter is back from her six week visit with her mother. We, my step-daughter and I, picked her up from the airport on Sunday. Everyone will be going back to school in a couple weeks, except me.
Three little babies and me… Cooling off after cooking like bacon all day.
While my daughter was gone, my niece gave birth to her new baby… Neither of my daughters met her yet, so we stopped by for a visit on the way home from the airport.
It’s three hours each way, and stopping off on the way home was a welcome relief from the relentless heat of a Florida summer.
My Niece is a teacher too, but she’s taking time off with the baby. Her life is forever altered with the arrival of the tiny poop machine. She has two already, so she knows what she’s in for, but there will still be changes.
My wife got a call this morning informing her she’ll be teaching Creative Writing instead of eleventh grade Standard English… Needless to say, she’s happy with this change!
Oh… My daughter now has a boyfriend up where her mother lives… A change I’m not happy about!
So, Why Not Me?
And here I sit… I’ve been neglecting my blog while enjoying the time off everyone else has… Something I have every day. It’s back to reality now though. Everyone else will be going back to their regular schedules… Except me.
I started this blog almost a year ago, hoping to make a living online. It hasn’t happened, YET, so I need to figure out how to make some income in the mean time.
I’m not on temporary disability anymore, so I’m burning up my savings while I figure out what the next step in my life will be.
I would be a teacher too, if someone would hire me… I’m eligible to teach Art, kindergarten through twelfth grade as well as Social Studies (which includes, history, geography, economics, sociology, psychology, philosophy and government) sixth through twelfth grades… I’ve been on dozens of interviews but no one will take a chance on hiring me with no teaching experience.
Oh well…
It’s All Good
Life is progressing as it should, even if I feel like it’s leaving me behind sometimes… I write about growth but I feel stuck right now. I’ll look at it as fodder for my blog… “How to get through being stuck in life, when you thought you already figured it out”…
Maybe that will be my next series of posts!
I’m not sure what tomorrow will bring, but I’m going to enjoy the rest of today…
Doug Does Life 
It is difficult, indeed, out there in the world. May you find a niche that brings both income and joy. Keep writing!
Thanks Michael- I know I’ll find my groove that brings all that I need… It’s just taking longer than I thought. Thanks for the encouragement.
To every season, turn, turn, turn. And a time to every purpose under heaven . . . this song came into my head while reading your words.
Wishing you peace, light, and some inspiration as you figure things out, guys. 😉 We’ll be here looking forward to the journey with you!
Allison
Hey Allison- I can add “The Times, They Are A’Changin” to the songs that sum up my life right now! Thanks for following along and adding your words of encouragement and enlightenment.
Congratulations on your interview (which can be read via a link on her blog, so check it out readers)… I look forward to part two. It’s cool to learn a bit more about you…
Haha, also a great tune! I follow along with you because we seem to have much in common – our strengths and our struggles. Always a treasure to find a kindred spirit.
Hey, I really want to thank you big time for reading the interview, that means a good lot to me. I really want to do special readers like you proud! 🙂
It can be difficult to find your path, when a job is needed too.
Maybe you could offer yourself as a guest teacher for free for some hours at one of the schools, where you would like to work. This could give the leaders a change to find out, if you are a good educator, when you don’t have the experience yet.
I hope the best for you 🙂
Thank! I’ve been busy figuring all of this out the past week. I think substitute teaching is the path for me, at least for the short term.
Just asking, but why do you not sub? If you are certified, it is a no brainer. You work when you want.
I will write soon.
Jane
I am in a situation right now where we have no income at all. We are living off savings. This can only be done for so long. I yearn to earn a living through my writing or creating. Maybe one day it will happen.
For now, I understand exactly where you are and I continue to hope. I have had many people say to me (when I am down) “Read your own blog”. It’s sometimes easier to be a teacher than a student. lol
I wish you well.
It is certainly easier to be a teacher than a student! I guess I still have a lot more learning to do while I teach.
Good luck to you. It’s difficult seeing the saving go down each day with nothing filling it back up…
Doug,
Have you considered reaching out to your local home-schooling community? There are folks out there who would love to have someone with the credentials you have to:
1 – design a program in any of those subjects,
2 – teach a seminar for kids or parents on how to do a certain type of art,
3 – teach a seminar on how art history interacts with world history,
I could go on for hours! Find out how much tutors in your area are charging, adjust for what kind of income you MUST make and balance that with the amount you feel comfortable charging other people for your time, talent and effort, and step out!
Now, it is important that, before embarking on that path, to clarify for yourself what belief systems and education styles you will tolerate/accept dealing with and which you won’t. The most vocal groups tend to be fundamentalist Christians. However, there are atheist/agnostic groups, pagan groups of various stripes, and everything in between. There are groups that try to recreate the public school model at home and those who encourage child-directed exploration and self-teaching — that’s called unschooling. It looks odd, but works amazingly well. There is a huge range of techniques in between. And a wildly varying number of reasons for home-schooling at all.
My former stepdaughter is on the autistic spectrum and was getting punished basically for existing at her public school during her elementary years. So we pulled her out and spent a year on social skills development, academics, and learning what her personal limits are and how to handle them. She’s doing great now and was accepted to a university. To my knowledge, she elected not to pursue that route, but that was more due to her desire to follow her heart, not an inability to achieve. Other people have other reasons, but most home-schooling families are *every* concerned about getting a high quality education for their children.
You are in an amazingly good position to contribute to that!
If this sounds like a potentially fertile field for you, and you need encouragement or help figuring out likely contacts, I’d be happy to hunt with you!
Don’t forget, play to your strengths! Be yourself! Say what you want, you never know when the universe will say, “Hey! That IS a good idea!”
— Toad Girl
Hey Toad Girl- Thanks for taking the time to share so much in your response. I’ve been away from my blog this past week and am just now getting caught up on my comments…
I love the ideas you’ve presented. My long range goal is to be sort of an independent teacher/guide whatever, and this would fit nicely into that idea.
It never occurred to me that home school groups would be interested in someone to assist with the education of their children… Thanks for the idea!
Right now I’m getting everything straightened out to start substitute teaching for the year… I like your ideas though. Right now I can see myself coaching and teaching to different groups (including home schoolers apparently), incorporating seminars, classes, my blog and maybe some books too. I just need to get from here to there…
As I read though, my job is to decide what I want, not how to get there… The Universe will provide answers when I need them, and encouraging people such as yourself too!
So, what DO you think about substitute teaching? It would get your foot in the door, and in the lower grades, that cute monkey could go along with you. Or tutoring? After school programs? Wishing you the best, always!
Hey JoAnne- Substituting is the path that seems to be open to me right now. I’ve spent the last week getting all my paperwork together and will be signed up this week… I hope!
If you have such a wide range of skills, like others have said, think outside the box. Start teaching independently, people are always on the look-out for creative people who will enrich the lives of their kids. You are right up their particular alley.
I think this is going to be my long range goal… Sort of a freelance teacher/guide/helper sort of thing. Substitute teaching will give me some experience in handling students… I guess I lack practical skills and the substitute job will fill int he gaps for me… Then, I can move on to something along the liens of your suggestions.