My Odyssey

I have decided to take a day to rest and I believe it is well deserved and perhaps necessary.

I am exhausted, mentally and physically but amazingly I am still hanging in there, fending off the many obstacles hurled at me.

So let's start in January when we laid off half of our staff out of necessity. They were all talented but the financial model of yesterday no longer worked. It was okay with a smaller staff at first but then the jobs started to roll in as the economy started heatingup again. I am not sure why but our web designer of many years decided to quit in the middle of a mountain of work. He would not tell us why. I try to take these things in stride and realize that he may have good reason to leave but still it has been difficult for me since I am the only one left in the studio who can fully work/understand web sites and I am a bit rusty since I have mostly been in the admin slot of late. The problem is I have no time for projects because I spend most of my time talking to clients, meetings, art direction, etc.

I have advertised for new designers but in spite of people supposedly looking for jobs, most of them do not have up-to-date technical skills and even if they do are they good designers? Finally I decided to contract 2 good graphic designers. So things are rolling along, getting jobs done and then we are all hit with this incredibly awful cold germ that will not go away and drains the body, mind and spirit. Meanwhile, the jobs continue to roll in. What to do? Rest. Get better. Be patient.

The new people in the studio are a breath of fresh air (when they are feeling well). They are pleased as can be to be working for us and enthusiasm, concepts and teamwork are just so inspiring. In some ways the creative part of my brain is jumping for joy and I know we will have some very good times in the near future. In the meantime (cough, hack) we are muddling through. Have patience. Breathe. I can do this. We all can do this.

And the matter of my health? My body seems to be holding up well, not a lot of change but often my doctors will tell me a different story. Will the stress help me or hinder me? Not sure. I was one of the last ones to catch the dreaded ick so perhaps my immune system is improving. I go to Hopkins again on Monday. Maybe I will hear something new but I doubt it. But please, no more hurling boulders, no 3-headed dragons or impossible seas. Enough is enough!