The Art of Asking

Dear Readers,

I am a big fan of TED talks.  If you don't know what they are check them out at www.ted.com . A few months ago I watched the following talk by Amanda Palmer:

The video is 14 minutes long and in my opinion worth the investment of time.  She talks about the struggles of an artist and the vulnerability of having to ask for help.

When I embarked on this journey I told myself two things.  First, I was allowed to feel however I needed to about all this change.  And secondly, it was okay to accept help along the way.  Today I am adding a third thing and that is it's okay to ask for help. 

As I've mentioned many times before the job search is taking longer than I thought.  I applied for what felt like my 300th job yesterday - Aimee says 300th times a charm - let us hope.  My savings are holding out and I'm really trying to save what I have for the essentials.  So.  Deep breath.  I'm putting out a request for some help with non-essentials.  If anyone has one of those credit cards that earns points to be cashed in for gift cards and could send something my way, it would be greatly appreciated.  Perhaps Aunt Mable gave you a WalMart gift card for Christmas and you choose not to shop there, I am not too proud to accept a re-gift.  WalMart and Target here have grocery stores in them so those cards can go a long way. 

To be clear I am not about to be out on my ear or anything.  I'm just trying to make the money I have go as far as it can.  And sometimes the non-essentials are what keep us going.  Like an iced coffee at Dunkin or fries and a Frosty at Wendy's, just the simple things for a treat once in a while.  Anything that I receive I will pay back or pay forward as soon as I can.  And I will write you a first class heartfelt thank you note.

When my dad was here in May he brought me something that at the time I didn't realize I would end up appreciating as much as I do now.  He brought me a box full of his loose change.  The quarters go for laundry and slowly I am starting to use the rest for non-essential treats.  (My bank has a machine that counts it for me...yay!)

Everyone has been so generous to me along the way, which makes it even harder for me to ask for help now.  However I also believe that people are more than willing to help, but without being asked they don't know how to.  I'm not comfortable posting my address here so please email me or ask an immediate family member for it if you would like to send something.  Please and thank you don't cut it, but it's a start.

Until next time...
Peace & Love,
Hope