Arguing Over Jurisdiction

erverFrom The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have.

Genius is a crisis that joins the buried self, for certain moments, to our daily mind.
--William Butler Yeats

What Yeats offers us is an insight into life on Earth.

I had this interview today at another agency, and you know, when you've done one of these things, it's hard to be bright and enthusiastic…. Especially when all the questions are the same… but I have to say that I came up with a right gem of a phrase – which was actually pretty amazing even if I do say so myself because I was filling out a form at the time I was asked the question. The question was nothing new, just about classroom management techniques, and how to maintain discipline. So as well as the usual 'expected' answers, (yes, have to hit all the check boxes too), I said something along the lines of, "…maintain a warm and caring relationship with the children without breeching professionalism." Paula liked this… and I do too.

Going off at a tangent… police checks… 'Enhanced' Criminal Record Bureau checks to be precise. Teachers must have one in order to be able to teach – and rightly so. I have no argument with that. I fill out the form, send it off, a few weeks later I get a certificate from the home office/police that confirms I am a good girl and not a dangerous predator. However… on this form it also says the name of the company or organisation that wanted the check done, the 'countersignatory.' And that's where we hit the snag.

Supposing 'Bill & Co' wanted the check done, I have the form… it has my name on it, and Bill & Co. I then decide that I also want to work with Fabion Ltd, so I go to them, and they say I need a CRB too. Now, these things are supposed to have 'portability' within the first 12 months from date of issue, right? So I take my new form and proudly show it to Fabion Ltd, who suck their teeth and say – ah, but it doesn't have 'Fabion Ltd' on it as the countersignatory – (and evidently we don't know how to pick up a phone and call Bill & Co to get them to say it's fine for them to use it too) – and suddenly I'm expected to get a /new/ one done, at a cost to myself… and it's not cheap.

A ECRB, is an ECRB folks! Give us a break! None of us mind having one… but ONE, not five, or six, or ten…!

Person to Person

erverFrom The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have.

Once for each thing. Just once; no more.
And we too, just once. And never again.
But to have been this once, completely,
even if only once; to have been
at one with the earth,
seems beyond undoing.
--Rainer Maria Rilke

"How do you prepare for meeting people you respect? How do you know what to ask or say?"

I've spent a lot of time the last couple of days, meeting people – new people, people I knew before… and it made me think about meetings with other people.

Yesterday I met a woman I'd known before in a professional capacity, now meeting her in a different professional capacity… and yes, I was professional, but I was also human, meeting her as an equal, person to person – soul to soul.

Today, I met a man that I had never met before – same professional capacity, met him in exactly the same way… and only now that I'm sitting here thinking about it, do I think that it was kind of odd – but felt right at the same time. It was a good meeting, a good interview, because technically that's what it was though I didn't feel any of the usual nervousness, just felt comfortable and confident. I felt the mutual respect. It was a good feeling.

It set me to thinking about meeting other people – people that others might see as 'famous' or however you want to put it. The very first time I met someone like that, (and by met, I mean sat and talked with, not bumped into or went and had a photo op or anything like that, I mean genuinely talked). I was hellish nervous – all shaking and trembly… I laugh at myself now, because now it's just… like normal, person to person, soul to soul. Sure there's the respect angle, and maybe that's exaggerated a little bit because of how much other people don't and I somehow want to make up for that, but still… person…soul…

On a completely unrelated note, sometimes it's good to miss a bus. If I had been on the bus that I missed today, I would have been involved in a really bad accident. Someone was looking out for me today.