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Apr 25, 2022Liked by Jena Ball

Haunting.

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I have no idea where or how you are finding the ENERGY to keep your foot on the accelerator, Jena!! But your Ukraine posts! One would have been dazzling. And now you have created one after the other! I am knocked out.

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Apr 22, 2022·edited Apr 25, 2022Author

I will tell you the truth - because I trust and admire you, and because you have known me long enough to realize I don't operate the way most folks do. When it comes to projects that I care deeply about, and which I feel I'm meant to tackle, the energy, logistics, and creative drive are simply there. The Ukrainian project is one of those.

I contrast it and other projects that have grabbed me by the throat (CritterKin, Braided Lives, Rough Edges, One Note) with my ongoing attempts to find ways to pay the bills and am confused. I know with every fiber of my being that I am doing good work - that I am making a difference and creating materials that not only entertain but educate as well. And yet, I am repeatedly faced with survival issues. Why?

This used to plague me to the point of debilitation. But now, at the age of 66, I can't afford to let the dysfunctions and out of whack priorities of a country and culture that values money and conformity over life itself to stop me. I have done my job - applied to more than 3 dozen jobs since my contract ended in March and am still unemployed with the end of the month approaching. What more can or should I do? Should I curl up into a depressed and frightened little ball and bemoan the fact that no one wants to pay me to do what I do exceptionally well? I think not.

I cannot and will no longer believe that who and what I am is not needed or wanted in this world. That was the message I got hammered into me by my parents and my Catholic school education, and it has taken me decades to find and love myself again.

So dear Auntie E., that is a long-winded way to say thank you for being part of my journey. You and your own spectacular brand of chutzpah have delighted, inspired me, and made me laugh out loud for months now. I am so so grateful I know you know. HUGS!

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Jena! It may be pretty simple. Re-Apply at those three-dozen jobs and use a different photo. Research shows that photos showing persons with grey hair are INSTANTANEOUSLY shit-canned.

Try it.

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Apr 22, 2022·edited Apr 22, 2022Author

And then what do I do when they want a video interview? Or require me to post the dates I graduated from high school and college? Most of the time you can't submit without entering those. Posting a younger me without gray hair simply tells them I am lying. I figure at least seeing my smile will help.

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Jena! It's not the dates of graduation....it's the PHOTO!

40% of the human brain is devoted to VISUAL. You are being judged and discarded in less than half-a-second.

Get a wig. Take a new photo. And wear it for the interviews---because with the new photo you will actually be GETTING interviews.

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P.S. Got any good wig makers to recommend that don't cost an arm and a leg?

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Wigs cost about 30 bucks! Forget wig makers. Go on Amazon and get a wig, Jena!!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DY9F7SO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1

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Apr 22, 2022·edited Apr 22, 2022Author

Wow you think so? I almost bought a wig two days ago cuz I thought it would be fun. Hmmmm....I may just do that. Thank you!

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I think you look marvelous, and I know you do NOT want to swerve from your natural look.....but this one fact is what I think is stopping you from getting interviews.

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P.S. This may be a good one for the conflab to ponder - lol

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The song is haunting. I cried as I heard the artillery and missiles march towards destruction. It begs one to notice. It begs one to see it is repetitive and unyielding. It is lonely and despairing as 1 by 1 and groups of people are being killed, slaughtered till there are no more to be killed. At what cost to civilization and humanity? This should not be. Don't turn away. Do something to help Ukraine survive, go on, and live.

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Yes, I don't understand why this is allowed. But then again I never understood Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Hussein, Marcos, Kim Yo Jong, or any of the other dictators who feel they have the right to destroy others' lives for their own pleasure. What is happening in Ukraine is the worst of humanity playing out before our eyes.

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Yes, it is. I never understood either. I have such great sorrow about the killing and invasion, What kind of people tolerate such things. Thank you, Jena for showing what great people the Ukrainians are. They are the same as you, I, and the rest of humanity.

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You are so so welcome Lucy.

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