fictionsmith

After my college band dispersed (Afterthought), I decided I was going to do some solo musical work under the name “Last Name First.”  I recorded some tracks and titled them “The Importance of Moving On.”  Looking back, it was a little presumptuous and self-important, but it was a learning experience.

Last Thursday I was laid off from my job of 3 years at Deloitte.  The Green Dot packed up all the items from his cubicle and placed them in a couple boxes and was escorted off the premises.

Note: Being escorted makes you feel like a celebrity or a criminal… carrying a box of your belongings makes it hard to feel like the former…

The same elevator as was featured in the video took me down to security, which I felt was beautifully fitting… It was a 1 in 6 chance and it comforted me a bit.

After my escort walked out, I quickly struck “The Green Dot” pose while nobody was looking (since that is sort of the rule… can’t do the pose with anybody watching).

I was walked to my car, handed my effects, and drove home.

I did find it ironic that I had requested Friday and Monday off… Got more than I bargained for.

.:Preparation
I had a day to prepare for being laid off.  There were 11 of us total, I believe, but one of us had our meeting on Wednesday.  I had the same title for a meeting request as they did, so I knew what was coming.  It helped having the day to prepare, empty my desk, say goodbye to friends, and ready myself for a meeting with my director.

I would have been hit with a ton of bricks if I had just had the meeting and later that day I was jobless.

The hardest part was saying goodbye to my friends at work.  It was made easier by joking about things… until one of my good friends saw me with tears in her eyes and held her arms out for a hug.  That got to me more than anything, I think.

.:Moving Forward
Yesterday was my first day unemployed (or at least without a job offer) since college.  It can be a scary thing with a family and a mortgage and other things that would be cause to concern me.

But, this is my life now.  I’m floating in a sea of possibilities with a lot of very supportive friends and (hopefully) an ace up my sleeve.

I’m in the process of contacting all the people I know in the media industry to see what sort of jobs they might have or know about.  With the economy as it currently is, it’s slim pickings, but I have the peace that the thing that started as a ‘hobby’ on the nights and weekends will be either directly or indirectly the thing that plucks me up from the sea and plants me on the path I need to be on next.

I believe that God is going to use this, and I have to just be patient and see how things are going to turn out.

.:Help
People have been asking me how they can help.  #1 request is prayer for the situation, for my family, and that I would be open to the right opportunities.

The second is for people to get the word out about Greyscale. This project has the opportunity to make or break things for me.  With my time off, I’ll be able to wrap things up much more quickly while I search for new employment… as well as dream up another movie (which is currently in process).

There should be a new trailer soon, and if I could ask a favor, showing around this new trailer to everyone you know would go a long way for me and the movie.  We’re going to need a grassroots effort here (and everywhere) to get this movie launched.  It has been a labor of love and I am incredibly excited to share it with everyone.

So, all in all, life is different, and it is important to move on.  These are the opportunities in life where one gets to reinvent themselves… and I’m realizing that I sort of already had… I just needed to stop wearing business casual.

-R