writing she’d done at her favorite coffee shop, Dolce. But her mother’s consistent response made Lily simultaneously laugh and roll her eyes.
“That’s great, honey. So did you meet anyone there?”
Lily knew her mom just wanted her to be happy.
But work made Lily happy. Writing features—telling the amazing stories of her community—still gave her a thrill, although, she could feel that same restlessness seeping into her work as well. Writing for FilmInsanity.com helped. It was something she did for fun, and she enjoyed having a place to channel her love of pop culture into something professional. If she had an opportunity to do it full time, she would jump at the chance.
As winter faded into spring, Lily settled into a routine. Work during the day. Check journalism job postings online at night. She applied for a few positions but found that anything in bigger cities—Atlanta, Chicago, New York—was too competitive. It frustrated her that she wasn’t being considered when she knew she could do those jobs. She eventually asked her mentor—the communications professor she had worked under during her assistantship in graduate school—for some advice.
Lauren Frederick always had a soft spot for Lily. She saw a lot of herself in Lily—she still nurtured that same enthusiasm and passion for journalism while wearing the many coats of professor, wife, and mother of two young children.
“It’s a tough market right now,” Lauren reminded her. “And, to be truthful, you know the best way to get something in any of those cities is to have an address there.” She believed in being upfront with her students and reminded them often that finding a job was not as simple as e-mailing a résumé.
Lily had some savings, but not enough to move to New York or even Atlanta without a job. And she held close to the adage that it was easier to find a job when you were already employed.
Even more encouragement came from an unexpected source. She and Daniel still e-mailed each other, and when he detected a note of discord in Lily’s messages, he asked what was wrong. At first, she played it off as nothing, giving him a generalized “tired and stressed” excuse. But when she thought more about it, she realized he was perhaps the one person she could talk to about these life changes objectively. She supposed they were friends at this point—that he would want what’s best for her.
And it turned out that Daniel was pretty good at giving advice. He reminded her to be patient and that she was good at what she did.
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Something Else
Lily,
You’ll find something, don’t worry. You’re too good not to be snatched up by someone. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know.
In the meantime, keep doing what you’re doing. You’ll know when the right thing comes along.
DB
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Something Else
Daniel,
Your faith in me is probably undeserved, but thank you. I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate it. And in case you were wondering, I feel the same way about you and your work. I’m going to see your Oscar acceptance speech on TV one day.
Thank you for letting me vent. I promise to return the favor if you ever need it.
Lily
When the weather warmed up, so did Lily’s spirits. Maybe it was just the idea of spring being in the air, but things seemed brighter. She had worked hard on a couple of stories for work, adding two great pieces to her clips. And her stories for FilmInsanity.com—even the ones that didn’t mention Daniel Brighton—continued to draw in readers. She still applied for open positions but didn’t panic when she didn’t get responses back.
In March, an interesting opportunity presented itself via e-mail.
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Some Professional Advice
Lily,
So I wanted to get your thoughts on something.
Vanity
“That’s great, honey. So did you meet anyone there?”
Lily knew her mom just wanted her to be happy.
But work made Lily happy. Writing features—telling the amazing stories of her community—still gave her a thrill, although, she could feel that same restlessness seeping into her work as well. Writing for FilmInsanity.com helped. It was something she did for fun, and she enjoyed having a place to channel her love of pop culture into something professional. If she had an opportunity to do it full time, she would jump at the chance.
As winter faded into spring, Lily settled into a routine. Work during the day. Check journalism job postings online at night. She applied for a few positions but found that anything in bigger cities—Atlanta, Chicago, New York—was too competitive. It frustrated her that she wasn’t being considered when she knew she could do those jobs. She eventually asked her mentor—the communications professor she had worked under during her assistantship in graduate school—for some advice.
Lauren Frederick always had a soft spot for Lily. She saw a lot of herself in Lily—she still nurtured that same enthusiasm and passion for journalism while wearing the many coats of professor, wife, and mother of two young children.
“It’s a tough market right now,” Lauren reminded her. “And, to be truthful, you know the best way to get something in any of those cities is to have an address there.” She believed in being upfront with her students and reminded them often that finding a job was not as simple as e-mailing a résumé.
Lily had some savings, but not enough to move to New York or even Atlanta without a job. And she held close to the adage that it was easier to find a job when you were already employed.
Even more encouragement came from an unexpected source. She and Daniel still e-mailed each other, and when he detected a note of discord in Lily’s messages, he asked what was wrong. At first, she played it off as nothing, giving him a generalized “tired and stressed” excuse. But when she thought more about it, she realized he was perhaps the one person she could talk to about these life changes objectively. She supposed they were friends at this point—that he would want what’s best for her.
And it turned out that Daniel was pretty good at giving advice. He reminded her to be patient and that she was good at what she did.
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Something Else
Lily,
You’ll find something, don’t worry. You’re too good not to be snatched up by someone. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know.
In the meantime, keep doing what you’re doing. You’ll know when the right thing comes along.
DB
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Something Else
Daniel,
Your faith in me is probably undeserved, but thank you. I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate it. And in case you were wondering, I feel the same way about you and your work. I’m going to see your Oscar acceptance speech on TV one day.
Thank you for letting me vent. I promise to return the favor if you ever need it.
Lily
When the weather warmed up, so did Lily’s spirits. Maybe it was just the idea of spring being in the air, but things seemed brighter. She had worked hard on a couple of stories for work, adding two great pieces to her clips. And her stories for FilmInsanity.com—even the ones that didn’t mention Daniel Brighton—continued to draw in readers. She still applied for open positions but didn’t panic when she didn’t get responses back.
In March, an interesting opportunity presented itself via e-mail.
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Some Professional Advice
Lily,
So I wanted to get your thoughts on something.
Vanity
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