Adjusting and Stabilizing Life

Hey Bloggers,

I hope you are all having a good week this week.  I know I updated you on a lot of thoughts and topics last week, so I wanted to rest and come back this week with more to catch up on.  Being that my last entry was about my new beginning and new start, I figured I would just catch up on how I am adjusting to my new work life and schedule.

Well, to jump right into it, my official start date was August 1st, and my first week was quite interesting as a lot was happening.  I basically got thrown into the busy side of things and met everyone on my team.  I love everyone I work with; they are all so nice.  I had some immediate observations of the differences between the animation word and live action, which I will list at the end.

There were a few strange twist of events, that suprised me my first week.  One was my team leaders are huge fans of Conan!  Who knew?  Once I told them I interned for him, they all freaked out.  It is amazing to me that leading directors, writers and artists are fans of others just as much as I am.  In addition, I found out one of the PAs is someone I used to work FOR as an intern over 2 years ago.  This just comes to show you, you never know who you will meet, where you will go, and what you will do in this town.  It further proves the point you should NOT burn bridges because you never know when you will work with them again.

Also my first week was really busy.  I was just thrown into a busy schedule, which felt amazing.  Just having a job and a purpose to wake up in the morning was really exciting my first few days.  I really love my team, the project I'm on, and the potential of where this can lead.  One down side to my first week was I broke up with my boyfriend within the first few days of working, which was not fun, and not the best way to start a new job.  I mentioned this in previous posts, but stay tuned...

The rest of August was similar to my first week.  It was just adjusting to the differences between live action and animation, adjusting to the pace, meeting many new people from PAs to the President of the Studio, and getting to understand my role and voice within the group.  I am always self-conscious about raising my voice because I do not want to overstep anyone's boundaries, but my team is open to me saying things, which is unusual for a PA position, so I just need to find the proper balance.  However, I feel that I have adjusted nicely, and I loved being thrown into the busy times!

Then September came.  This month was about settling my personal business with the benefits and such.  I enrolled in my insurances for medical, vision, dental, etc, and found a chiropractor for my back.  I set up appointments and my finance accounts as well as future financial goals for the next year or so.  I never knew how long personal insurance and finances could take.  I really do not understand any terminology for insurance, so I am just asking questions to anyone and everyone so I can try to understand how it all works.  Sometimes I feel way to overwhelmed to figure out how the world works, but I must in order to survive independently.  These are the "real life" things college never teaches you.  Thank God for my parents' help.

Another personal note continued from before........since September, I have been hanging out with my former boyfriend again!  I really missed him.  I am just happy that he wants to be in my life regardless of what happens to us, and I agree completely.  I love being able to do the activities we enjoy again like football games, hiking, day trips, movie watching, music sharing and random attempts at homemade dinner meals.  I don't know what will happen, but I am taking my new focus and just trying to enjoy the moment as it comes, which is really hard to do and not worry about the future, but I just want to be present as much as I can.

As for work, although it has been slow, I have been able to expand my network of people, get to meet some of the other PAs, and really just try to settle myself into the office.  It is weird when I get job postings to my email, and I realize I do not have to look for them anymore!  One aspect I really love about my job is being my own person, meaning, I am not someone's personal assistant.  I am in charge of my own schedule, I can leave for lunch when I want and go where I want, and that is NOT a luxury people my age have in this industry mostly ever.  I know how lucky I am to have it this way.

And now, it is October!  Where did the time go?  I have already been working over two months now, and it has gone fast.  I am still learning all about the animation world and my future with it is unknown, but for now, I am really liking it.  As far as going to the gym, it has been harder to go more so than I thought.  I am trying to make a routine for my social life, but it is not always constant.  I try to go to the gym 3-5 times a week, but for the first month is was about once a week, and boy I felt it!

More recently, I have also gotten back involved in my church life.  I am starting to attend regularly to Bel Air Presbyterian Church because they have a great young adult following.  I go on Tuesdays to their young adult service and then on Sundays to attend normal worship.  I am going on a retreat this weekend to Ojai to meet others and explore other facets of my faith as well as the church.  This church is not like my home church, so it is taking some getting used too, but I love having this stability back in my life again.  It keeps me grounded.  I am nervous about the retreat this weekend, but I hope it will be fun!  I will let you know how it goes.

These last two months have, overall, been about adjusting and stabilizing myself into a routine/a schedule, but it has been really inconsistent right now.  I look forward to when I am settled in my "work-gym/church-dinner-tv/crafts" routine.  I just need to take care of personal business before I can do my crafts, and I am almost there.

I can honestly say that right now, although life is not perfect, I am getting closer to where I want to be with things.  Life is pretty good right now, and I am enjoying that because I remember just how tough it was just 3 months ago.  I love having a purpose with each day and having a sense of direction.  I really like my job, my co-workers, my developing social life, and my few close friends, and that is a good place to be right now.  I am now content with what I have, and I am trying to work with it. I am adjusting and I am stabilizing.

Until next time...

PS.  here is a list of the first immediate differences I have noticed within my first two months at work.  More will come, but these are based on my immediate reaction.

Differences between Animation and Live Action:
* Trust in the creative process - production heads take more of a "stand back" approach to the development of the film totally understanding the creative process will happen naturally.
* More equal team effort - everyone has a voice to be heard, all are consulted for ideas.
* Slower decision making - with years in production, decisions are not weighted as heavily or are nearly as rushed
* Non-rushed Deadlines - I can take my time with tasks because they need time to be completed & assignments are not needed immediately
* More details and questions - every detail is paid attention too because they have the time to attend to them.  More questions are asked about character and plot than live action because they are not as rushed.
*  Artistic Environment - there are paintings and artwork on every wall of the building.  I am surrounded by color and characters.  I cannot get over how much creativity I am surrounded by each day.
*  Not as corporate - clothes are based on personal style and experession... or just jeans and a t-shirt.  No corporate look, professional behavior, everyone acts buddy-buddy.