LIFE QUAKE™
Ask the
LifeQuake™ Doctor Dr. Toni Galardi
Dear Readers: After six years with Vision Magazine, this is my last column of Ask the LifeQuake Doctor here. I will continue to publish in Counselor Magazine and you will be able to find my latest columns at my website: http:://www.lifequake.net. I have enjoyed answering all your questions and serving Vision Magazine with this column. May all your deepest hopes and dreams manifest in the most perfect way. Peace, Dr. Toni Greetings Dr. Toni, I am taking you up on the offer (hopefully it is not too late) to write in and ask for assistance/direction/ideas for my challenge. I will try to keep it short. Birth date: 10/17/ 73, time: 10:30 AM, place:----My challenge: I think this may be one you’re getting a lot lately. I’m 39 and have spent about 15 years in a structured and/or corporate work environment. Despite always knowing this was not how I wanted to spend my days, the stability and growing income kept me there. Along the way, I came into the study of Kundalini Yoga and eventually became a teacher of the practice. I love teaching the yoga. Separately, much of my corporate work has been in technical writing. I started out loving this but have gotten bored of it and am no longer challenged. I took another position in Aug. 2011 within the company where I started as a tech writer (the new position being that of reliability engineer) and it did not turn out to be a good fit. I have been looking for another job since the summer. I’m looking at tech writing jobs because this is what I know and am good at, but the idea of starting another job doing the same thing brings no enjoyment or anticipation with it. Being fed up (I have been with the company itself since May 2008), I resigned from my company--with no other job lined up--at the beginning of March (however in an attempt to keep me on and for which I am very flattered and appreciative, they offered to find another position for me). I accepted in an effort to “buy time” while I continue looking for another position. I just no longer know what to do. I have been on three interviews for tech writing that have not worked out. I need a solid income and do not feel that the yoga teaching can do it, and am at a loss for how next to proceed. Do I just stay where I am (it sure seems this latest company is trying hard, both energetically and career-wise to keep me), or look to make a change? 14 V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E • J u n e 2 013 • v i s i o n m a g a z i n e .c o m
And, if I do aim for change, what do I look for? I am a very introspective and philosophical person, and I have spent a lot of time trying to see the bigger picture in all of this, but I have truly hit a wall in terms of how I next proceed in this lifetime and within the reality that I am living. Thank you for your time and any insight and suggestions you might have. Dear Reader: You are a born teacher. In fact, teaching yoga is a great fit for you. Your lesson is to make it on your own financially so it may be time to stop getting a paycheck. Since they really want to keep you, is there any way you could present them with a wellness program where you do yoga and a stress management program on nutrition and meditation and worked as a technical writer for them part time? Your astrological chart shows that you really are being called to find the vocation that makes your heart sing. Another possibility that I see is to keep your job for the moment and start looking for a financial partner to back you in getting your own yoga studio going. You have luck in the house of partners. You also have luck in the career arena so whatever you truly are passionate about could work out very well. Since you are a writer, perhaps doing part time editing jobs might supplement your income. There are websites like Elance.com and others where a writer can be a gun for hire. You could definitely make this happen if you are open to many possibilities, some of which I outlined here. Good luck! In the words of Joseph Campbell, “To find your own way is to follow your bliss. This involves analysis, watching yourself and seeing where real deep bliss is — not the quick little excitement, but the real deep, life-filling bliss. When you follow your bliss… doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors; and where there wouldn’t be a door for anyone else.” Dr. Toni Galardi is a professional speaker, psychotherapist, career coach, and the author of The LifeQuake Phenomenon: How to Thrive in Times of Personal and Global Upheaval. She can be reached at 310-890-6832 or through her website: http://www.lifequake.net