Looking to join peace with mission

Mt. Hope Cemetery, Belleville, IL

I’ve always felt peace in cemeteries. Now, I don’t want to be IN one, but visit them frequently. This section marker is at a local one. I just wish life, in general, was as good at marking where to find it.

Peace has always been elusive for me. I strive to reach it but, in the process, end up further away. Peace to me isn’t living without conflict, it’s knowing everything is OK AFTER the conflict is resolved. It’s learning FROM the conflict and passing on what you learned to others.

Doing it in my personal life hasn’t found much success, achieving it professionally, even less. I’m hot and cold. I think I’m making headway, only to take three steps back. It’s frustrating.

For now I’m doing some trainings. This week I’m doing one for some area therapists, and I’ve scheduled 3 additional classes for the rest of the year. It’s something. Not the worklife I’m looking for, but, there’s been times when it was much worse.

So, continue to get things in place. That’s all I can hope for.

Learning, learning, learning

Taking an online course on advertising small businesses by video. Trying to remind myself to run my non-profit like a for-profit while maintaining a conscious and using the funds appropriately. Money is a tool which allows the work to be done. Working with nothing in the bank isn’t all its wrote up to be, lol.

Keeping on

I have been researching how to deal with the problem of the non-profit status that I truly believe is an issue from the IRS. I posted about the misclassification on a non-profit Facebook page and had 7 responses. Five have had the same problem. I have a problem with the fact that it costs three times the initial filing fee to correct the issue and all it takes is myself going online and filing another form. I also think the initial application should have been denied because, they felt I described a foundation, yet in the form I specifically said Join Me would NOT be granting monies to agencies, the definition of a foundation.

I have researched, and have a plan moving forward. Wish me luck. I have compiled 50 grants that fit the mission. I have work which needs to be done. It will take all the positive energy to get it done.

Keeping myself accountable

I have reached the end of the first 100 days of Join Me being an official non-profit. The goals were grand, lol. And missed. Not all, but definitely not completed as I had hoped.

So, a run down. The book didn’t get submitted to Amazon for sake because of the site’s formatting requirements. I have tried over and over, again, to no avail. Major fail because I really wanted it up for sale for October during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Dang it, anyway. I did reached out to 116 past contacts, goal was 100, to announce the opening. I had 15 follow-up in-depth conversations, which I am told is very good. I’ll take that. I got 9 puzzle pieces completed, an event I was supposed to be at didn’t happen so it was a missed opportunity. I have 2 more events scheduled within the next 3 weeks (does it count if it was scheduled during the first 100 days?) where the puzzle is the focus. I was on a week long online program on narcissistic behavior and had good responses from it, and am scheduled for another videocast in 2.5 weeks. I held meetings with 6 people. I have interviewed 7 people for the upcoming Spotlight on Survivors project throughout October and had to develop the Microsoft form for distribution. Not as easy as I imagined. I did hold 3 men’s domestic violence intervention groups, attended over 6 hours by 18 men total. I trained 19 hairstylists for their state CEU requirement.

I did partner with a grant researcher for a little while, but it ended up not working out because she didn’t have an operating computer. We will try again soon.

It didn’t work out completely as I planned, but, now after writing it out, I’m not disappointed. Keep on keeping on is what the goal needs to be!

Out of my reach

When you are where I am: with a new business, with a significant disability, with a monetary crunch, with a few other issues that I haven’t even identified, yet… it feels normal to have a bunch of things right out of my reach. Success, the next project, my old “go to” fun activities, that dang ripe tomato in the garden. It is the new norm.

Adaptation is also the new approach and today that is what I have to work on. I am ready to publish the workbook, but the formatting requirement has overwhelmed my brain. I farmed it out to a friend. Now I have to find some money to compensate her. I found a friend to write some grants. Now I have to find some money to compensate her. I have some designs in my head for handouts. Now I have to get my head to believe I can design them.

Out of my reach.

I came to the garden to relax, alone. Someone just joined me. Time to go home and get these things in my reach.

The work

I’ve done “the work” forever. Or, at least, it feels like forever. Now I’m getting a reminder that I have been out of it for a while. I’m also learning that I have a reputation to build again.

Ideas?