I listened in today on an interview with Arielle Ford, a brilliant young woman for whom I have developed great admiration.
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| Arielle Ford |
Arielle has spent the past 25 years living and promoting consciousness through all forms of media. She is the author of the international bestseller, THE SOULMATE SECRET: Manifest The Love of Your Life With The Law of Attraction. Her radio show, Big Love with Arielle Ford, is heard on Contact Talk Radio where she shares the secrets to finding and keeping love and making life a spiritual adventure. She lives in La Jolla, California with her husband Brian Hilliard, and their feline friends.
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Through today's interview I learned for the first time that Arielle's career has paralleled mine in that we have both walked away from careers -- Arielle once, me three times. I could have saved myself a lot of anxiety, however, with the benefit of her experience and wisdom away back then.
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At the top of her career in 2004 as perhaps the leading book publicist and agent in North America, she fell victim of depression and began to hate the work she was doing. "Authors are very difficult people to work with," she explained. "They are extremely demanding and have unrealistic expectations of what a publicist can do for them. They all want to get on the Oprah Wimpfrey Show and the odds of that happening are very slim. Most are not ready for that kind of exposure, even if there was a chance to get them on the show. The time that I was putting into my work, and the demands that were placed on me, eventually led me to leave the business before I really got sick."
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As it was, Arielle spent many months in recovery. "Some days I could not even get out of bed, but one thing I had going for me was a wonderful support system, including my husband and several people who coached me in the areas of finances and moving ahead into a new career."
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"The support system is crucial and you have to have faith that there is something better out there for you," she added. "You also have to understand that we complete phases of our life and that there is nothing wrong with ending one phase and moving on to another."
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Opportunities for Arielle to become involved in several not-for-pay projects eventually presented themselves and she eagerly jumped at the challenges. One opportunity led to her becoming a partner/stakeholder and she was on her way to a remarkable comeback in a new career that she thoroughly enjoyed and was exceptionally good at. The rest is history.
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In walking away from my three careers, first the men's clothing business then newspaper and finally public relations, I paid a price mentally and emotionally. I did it all on my own. I had too much pride to ask for help and that was a mistake. Things worked out for me in spite of myself, but I always felt that there was something wrong with me in leaving perfectly good carriers just because I was unhappy with what I was doing and paying a price for the impact that it was having on me.
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Maybe some of us go through more phases than others in a search for fulfillment. I don't know. As Arielle pointed out, I did not understand that we all go through phases that we complete and that it is in our best interests to move on to something else -- a new phase. Life is too short to allow your job to make you sick.
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I'm so relieved to know now that there was nothing wrong in my changing careers and that I am not alone in experiencing more than one phase in life. God help me, I'm still going through phases long after my change of life. Who knows, there might still be something better out there for me.
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I have just ordered Arielle Ford's latest book. It’s called "Wabi Sabi Love" and it is based on an ancient Japanese art form that finds beauty and perfection in imperfection. It is especially written for husband and wives and may give me a new perspective with which I can expand on my "True Love" post of last week.
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