Tina M. Marks Shirley calls herself a "corporate refugee". In 2003 Tina was nominated for the Charles County Chamber of Commerce Working Woman of the Year Award.

She left the corporate world this past January (2006) - to devote herself to writing - and has already had work published in numerous places. She's also establishing herself as a seminar leader.

This woman has lots of energy! Besides writing, photographing, doing seminars and taking care of her pets and family she also teaches yoga several times per week.

I've always felt that way (Square-Peg) - even in my 20's. I'm an observer - a quiet introvert...I'm non-elitist, not competitive and I don't like confinement.

I like to think of myself as a "corporate refugee" - dropped out January 1st of this year (2006). I would go to upscale board meetings and the whole time I'd be gazing out the window...it got worse over the years - I'd cover minute books with blurbs and drawings. I'd go to transcribe my notes and find it was all doodles.

Now I'm spending time getting to know myself - know where my gifts are - getting to know me - what I enjoy and what I'm gifted at...I look for "doors" - ways to use my talents to help others.

I live in a Square-Peg household - no doubt. My husband is a musician and Square-Peg - he's really an octagon peg...My daughter is artsy - creative. Her stuff is different, not the "norm", and I'm glad she turned out that way...

In my Yoga and Reiki trainings I became more awake. The more awake you are, the more attuned your senses are. It's like suddenly being able to hear after being deaf your whole life - very, very exciting but...the volume can be - well, deafening at times! Painful. Sometimes it's tempting to go back to being numb. It's hard to open your heart when it's bleeding - when you want to shrink up.

Tina talked about realizations she had while working in the corporate world:

Someone I worked with gave me a card with words by Maya Angelou, it said: "Survival is important. Thriving is elegant." I had it for awhile, hung it on my bulletin board, looked at it everyday, then it dawned on me - I was doing a good job surviving, but I didn't want to just survive anymore. I wanted dignity and grace - I wanted "elegant".

Read more...

Square-Peg-Stacks

Reviews Leslie Godwin's book: from burned out to fired up - A Woman's Guide to Rekindling the Passion and Meaning in Work and Life.

Everyone has felt burned out at one time or another, whether it's the BIG burnout - leading to changing your whole life, or a smaller version - involving one aspect of your job. This book is helpful in assessing what might be missing or what might have gone wrong and pointing you toward the true expert (YOU) - who knows what you really need.

The book is divided into 4 parts:

Part One: Becoming Inwardly Mobile - Leslie Godwin uses the term "inwardly mobile", as opposed to upwardly mobile, throughout this book.

Part Two: Four Types of Burnout

Part Three: Creating Your Synergy Plan - "Your Synergy Plan will get you on the track for personal and business success as you define it."

and Part Four: Reach Higher - which begins with a chapter titled: "Beyond Balance to Meaning".

There's a small section for stay-at-home-moms, and sections for working moms - with information for homeschooling moms and moms who have special needs kids.

She includes many work sheets and journal exercises to help you through the process of rekindling passion. There's even a helpful quiz: "Are you Inwardly Mobile or Burned Out?"

Leslie Godwin uses personal stories (her own and those of clients) to enhance descriptions of burnout and to illustrate how she and others have created a path out of burnout an on to fulfillment.

Read more...

Looking Ahead:

Thursday, November 9, 2006, (at 9 P.M. Eastern) we're having another fr*e tele-call.

In this get-together we'll use the analogy of Autumn (since many of us are enjoying those colors now) - and falling leaves - to examine the ways we can appreciate (while taking the power from) the "shoulds" in our lives.

You know: "I should get more done when I'm working", "I should be tidier", "I should exercise". (Not that any of those shoulds refer to me - lol).

The tele-call is named: "Droppin' Like Leaves - Getting Rid of The Shoulds", and you can sign up for it by using the form here.The phone number will be sent to you automatically when you sign up. There are no charges for the tele-call, other than any long distance charges you may incur if the number is outside your area code.

Next month our interview is with L'Tanya Durante, the dynamic Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Black Purl Magazine. If you haven't been there lately - check out Black Purl Magazine and be part of the Black Purl community.