UPDATE

Well friends, I have survived my hardest challenge yet.

They say that once you lose everything, you realize what is really important in life. And that is exactly what I learned over the last two months.

As I came to the end of my severance and savings, through the month of May, I was waiting patiently for Employment Insurance to be finalized. After the first week, I had no phone. After the next week, I had no internet, by the third week, they told me I wasn’t eligible for EI (for reasons I will explain in a minute), and by the fourth week, I was a week away from being homeless.

Needless to say, without a phone or internet, I wasn’t able to blog easily and that is why I have been away. I hauled my laptop to Starbucks to use their Wi-Fi a couple of times, but couldn’t very well do so once I could no longer afford to buy a coffee there! And when I did, I was furiously working on freelance writing, which merely kept me from starving. I still don’t know how many calls or texts I missed on my birthday, and I had to walk to and from Service Canada every single day to follow up on my claim sicne they could not call me. I waited anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour each time, only to be told there was no news, come back tomorrow.

No phone meant no calls and no texts. But once I lost my Wi-Fi, I had no emails, iMessages, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Netflix or Spotify either. While I didn’t lose all my material possessions, my means of communication were gone and that was something I valued above all else. Still, I learned to get by. I walked to coffee shops and used their Wi-Fi when I could. I made plans and found unknown places the old fashioned way – by planning in advance, when I did have internet access, and then not backing out of plans at the last minute. I try not to do that as it is, but admit it, you have done it too and texting makes it a whole lot easier. To be honest, it was kind of nice to be forced to stick to plans, as well as to be disconnected the majority of the time. I had to be resourceful and learn to think ahead. We have become so reliant on these devices to think for us!

I held on to the notion that I would get my EI eventually and since they back pay, I would be able to get all caught up and move forward once I got it. I was out of savings, and two months behind on everything. A good friend, who wishes to remain anonymous, actually helped with my rent in May. I would owe them that money back, so technically I was still in the red for that amount. But at least the rent was paid.

When Service Canada finally had some news. It wasn’t good. They determined that I was not eligible for EI because I had taken a part time job which I quickly left as it wasn’t a good fit. There is a bit more to it, but I don’t want to dwell and it doesn’t really add anything to this already long story. The point here is that I didn’t think one would have anything to do with the other. My original claim for EI was for my full time job of six years, which I was let go from without cause. It never once occurred to me that a part time, unrelated job, could affect that claim. And yet, it did. They denied my original claim and said I’d have to appeal it if I still wanted to pursue it. I was in shock. I cried and felt helpless as I filled out the request for reconsideration. I had been told it would be at least 4 more weeks for that to be processed and June was fast approaching. I didn’t know how I would eat let alone how I was going to pay my June rent.

I am beyond thankful for all the friends and my family who between all of them, consistently took me for coffees, lunches, dinners, drinks and anything else. They all said the same thing when I hesitated on their offers to do so: “it’s your birthday month!” – I guess it was good timing in that sense.

The staff at the New Westminster Service Canada branch were amazing! They all saw me come in every day. They all tried their hardest to get a response from the decision makers. They never once made me feel small for the situation I was in or the choices I had made. I can’t say the same for the Service Canada call centre, when I used a phone in the local branch, to hear about their decision. When I asked what I could do now, with tears in my eyes, the local staff suggested that WorkBC might have some resources and potential financial relief for me.

I had heard of WorkBC as an online resource but I was not aware that they have physical locations. After I went home and had a good cry over my EI, I freshened up and made my way up to the local WorkBC branch. As hard as I tried not to, I cried some more as I told the receptionist why I was there and who sent me. She was warm and welcoming. She asked if I had time to wait to see a case worker and had me fill out some forms. I laughed (maybe a little maniacally) as I said “I don’t have anywhere else to be!”

I looked around as I waited and saw people using the computers and phones, a giant cork board filled with printed out job postings, a shelf of books on resume writing, cover letters, and interview tips, and classrooms. It wasn’t a long wait before they called my name and I followed my new case worker down a long hallway opposite of all the other things I had just seen. We sat in her office and talked about my situation, my goals, my job history and aspirations. I didn’t have time to discuss social media marketing desires or schooling. I needed a job and fast so I stuck to what I knew. Based on all we discussed, she said I’d qualified for free workshops at the branch for resume and cover letter writing, and interview skills. There would be 1 per day for 4 days and they were each scheduled for the full day. To be honest, I was hesitant. I could use that time to actually look for work. I was fairly certain that I knew how to make a resume!

She then said I would qualify for transit fare to and from the branch for each day and a Tim Horton’s Gift Card to get lunch since I’d be there all day. I knew that gift card could be the only meal I ate on those days, so I agreed to attend the workshops. The gift card afforded me one sandwich at Tim Horton’s each day. The fresh bread, lettuce, cheese, and meat, were a welcome change from the plain spaghetti and pancake mix I had at home. I made a habit of getting my sandwich after the class and some job hunting, walking home in the sun as I ate it, and appreciating every bite.

The workshops turned out to be very helpful! The instructor was knowledgeable, current, and very friendly. Plus, it turns out that resume writing has changed a lot in the last 8 years and I didn’t know much about writing a cover letter at all! As well, there are far more places to find jobs than I ever dreamed. I used what I had learned each day to improve my job search, resume, and cover letter, and then I applied for any and every job that matched my qualifications and skills.

I started to get a lot of interview requests and even had two in one day. I felt like I was getting traction and I began to believe that everything was going to be ok. The interviews were nerve-racking! Part of me wanted to beg and plead for them to hire me! Instead I took a deep breath before each one and somehow confidently answered questions about my experience and skills. I felt like I nailed every interview, and some even felt more like casual chats, but still no luck.

I was now into the last week of May and becoming more and more worried about how I would pay the June rent. If I had been offered a job and started immediately the week before, I would be able to tell my landlord that I would be late by a week or so and they are known to be understanding about that in my building. But I worried that going into the last week of May, and still no job, would result in an eviction.

On the last Monday of May, I sat down with my landlord to explain my situation. I told him that I did not have money for June’s rent, but that I did have some very promising prospects. I asked what my options were for missed payment and repayment or if any of my prospects fell through and I didn’t have a job by June 1. He was very optimistic and warm about it. He said that we have a good history and I have never been late or full out missed a payment before, plus I was a quiet and respectful tenant, so he would allow me to skip June and repay it later. I felt a little relieved and then he said we could leave it at that for now, and work out the details once I was offered a job, I knew how much I’d be making, and when pays days would be.

Over the next week, I walked 15 minutes, up to WorkBC every day that I didn’t have an interview elsewhere, to look for more opportunities and/or use the phone for phone interviews.

The next day, I got a request for a phone interview from one of my applications. The job was with a transportation company and after researching I noticed that many people from my very first office job, now worked for this company!

I agreed to the phone interview and I honestly didn’t think it went that well. I was drained from the past two long weeks and was starting to feel hopelessness creep back. I was losing traction on my job prospects and the number of interview requests were fizzling. The recruiter was very focused on my first office job as it was in the same industry. But I wasn’t as well versed in talking about it as most people wanted to know about my most recent position. I felt like I fumbled my way through the chat and was pretty hard on myself after.

To my surprise I received an email the next day inviting me for a formal interview! I went the day after that and they said they had a “high level of interest” in me due to my experience in the industry. I had my first and second interviews back to back. I felt great about it but they wanted to check my references and an offer was pending the background check. Of course this was a Friday afternoon and I had to sweat it out over the weekend. But come Monday, I had an offer in my email to start the following Monday! I felt so excited and relieved!

Now I am three weeks into the job! I have had my first pay day, July rent is paid, I have WiFi again, and good healthy groceries in my fridge. It is a short commute to work and it's an early start and end to the day, so I will have the late afternoon and evening to pursue the things that set my soul on fire, such as this blog, photography, CrossFit, and being my bubbly social butterfly self! Oh yeah, and sometimes I will have to reply to urgent emails after hours… so they gave me a phone!

Over the last 2 months I have learned exactly how patient, optimistic, resourceful, intelligent, and worthy I am of good things. And that sometimes, I still think “I don’t got this”… but I continuously prove to myself that I do!

When absolutely everything falls away, what is left is all you need.

Hint: it’s you!