Things I Don’t (and Things I Won’t) in 2015

by Naomi House, MLIS

Things I Don’t (and Things I Won’t) in 2015

NaomiHouse ALA 2014 VegasMost lists of resolutions that I have come across focus on things that the authors will change or DO in the New Year. Diet and exercise. Read more. Get rid of those who are negative in their lives. Whatever it is they are going to DO something about it.  My 2014 was rough- 2 (of my 3) miscarriages, being flat broke at one point, stress, a young family member on Sana’s side passing away unexpectedly, etc. Basically I had a year like many others filled with more lows than I care to remember. There were certainly highs as well and even though my list below is mostly of resolutions about what I will NOT be doing in 2015 there are a few DOs as well.  It is all in how I frame it. So since I want to slam the door shut on 2014 and be nothing but hopeful about 2015 I present to you, things I don’t and things I won’t do in 2015!

DON’T

My list of things I don’t are actually a current list of things that I cut out of my life in 2014 and do not wish to have re-enter.

  • Work in a Library:  I have had some extraordinarily wonderful workplaces and coworkers in libraries in my life. I have had two that were miserable though both started out promising.  December 2013 was my last day working in a library ever and I plan on keeping it that way for many reasons detailed in my most popular blog post I wrote,  Why I Quit My Library Job and Why I No Longer Want One, including the fact that there are a TON of unemployed or unhappily employed librarians and I would rather they have the job, instead of me.  Instead I am devoting my time to helping established organizations across Africa raise funds.  I LOVE it!  I mean I am working with the FIRST professional circus in Ethiopia, a socially conscious organization who trains those with physical limitations and who empower and train women in the community.  I am so excited to be working with Circus Debre Berhan and the other partners at T160K.org!  Anyone can contribute- it is like Kickstarter+Indiegogo but for African arts, libraries, music and culture!!!  Oh, and we are crowdfunding for a CATALOGING project for the rescued Timbuktu manuscripts!!!!
  • Eat Carbs Like I Crave Carbs:  I have talked on here a few times about my diagnosis last February of Type 2 diabetes. I was told that I could reverse it and that that was rare, but that I had to change how I eat immediately. So I did. But it was a major change. I couldn’t have cheat days. I had to eat 20-40g of carbs each meal, no more, no less.  That is tougher than it sounds.  I did however learn that Lindt truffles have 5g of carbs so that is the only dessert I ate all year, for the most part. But it worked and I am now in the normal blood sugar range as of mid-December!

 

WON’T

Here is my list of resolutions in 2015:

  • Be On Here Much:  I have spent over 4 years with INALJ and thousands and thousands of hours.  Fortunately I have met some amazing volunteers over these 4 years who will be taking over the daily INALJ duties.  I will still write on occasion and run the @INALJNaomi ( formerly the @needalibraryjob) Twitter account and that is it.  Super grateful for the 2015 INALJ Leadership Team, new COO, Rachael Altman, and CIO, Jennifer Devine as well as the team of Volunteer Coordinators, Stephanie Sendaula, Kate Kosturski, Claire Schmieder, and Ashley Mancill, and ALL our volunteers!!!!
  • Work a traditional 9-5 job! I can never go back. There is great insecurity in paying your own health insurance and not having traditional, expected income. But my health has improved dramatically. I can travel at will (provided I have funds freely available) and no longer set an alarm clock.  Repeat.  NO LONGER SET AN ALARM CLOCK.  I think any and all acid reflux I had was tied into that alarm 5 days a week.  So blessed to not have that any more and Do Not Want It!  My most popular article, Why I Quit My Library Job and Why I No Longer Want One, says it all!
  • Feed the trolls!  OK, to be honest INALJ really has very few detractors who try and engage me directly. Some small nitpicking about the name and the lack of a 2013 annual report or complaints about duplicate jobs or non-traditional jobs. NBD. So when I am talking trolls I am talking hypothetically because truly we do not get trolled. We are lucky because the LIS communities have been so supportive.  But one rule I am insisting on for the new leadership team will be don’t respond to attacks.  We are all volunteer and do not charge, nor do we have to do this- we do it because we love to, so if someone does not like what we are doing or how we are doing that that is OK, but we will not engage.  We spend the time we want doing this how we want because it fits us- and so far we have helped many, Many job hunters. There is a reason there is no feedback form on INALJ.com, it is because we are happy with both how we do things and what we do.
  • Ever eat two slices of bread in one sitting again!  Continued from the Don’ts.  Some of you may have been following my health travails of 2014 specifically the blood sugar issues. Well there is good news! I did extensive blood work this month as I am going to try again in 2015 for a successful pregnancy, and my blood sugar dropped to the normal range!  But this means that for the rest of my life I will have to eat as if I am Type 2 Diabetic, if I do not want to be one. I am ok with this. I am a carbovore but small changes, like only eating open faced sandwiches has helped a ton. This is some good news for 2015!

THINGS I WILL

Yep.  I Had to add a few positive notes in here too.  Here are things I am looking forward to doing in 2015!

  • Read more!  Since founding INALJ I hardly read or watch tv, I haven’t had the time. The only time I devoted to reading was on the metro and since moving to New Orleans that time has drifted away too.  So night time will now be my reading time and I am truly looking forward to it!
  • Show Support for what I am passionate about!  This includes my work building a community of crowdfunders through T160K.org who are passionate about funding patrimony projects across Africa! I will continue to discuss my personal struggles, the foods I like, to show support for social justice causes and human rights like #BlackLivesMatter.  I will continue to support the work of the Innocence Project and @EveryLibrary.  I will serve on the board of UMD’s iSchool. I will try and be a DOer only of things I feel passionately about!  I even made sure my Mission Statement was clear about all of this!
  • Promote Others!  I am surrounded by amazing people at INALJ and in the library community as well!  But I have friends and colleagues across the globe outside of libraries doing extraordinary work that in 2015 I promise to share and share often!  I shall use ALA Presidential candidate JP Porcaro’s hashtags #mih (make it happen) and #tgim (thank goodness it is Monday) more!
  • Brainstorm!  One of my goals is to someday create jobs, not just share them.  So in 2015 I shall brainstorm this further!

So what are your WON’Ts and DON’Ts for 2015?

 

Naomi House

Naomi House, MLIS, is the founder and publisher of the popular webzine and jobs list INALJ.com (formerly I Need a Library Job) and former CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of T160K.org, a crowdfunding platform focused on African patrimony, heritage and cultural projects. INALJ was founded in October 2010 with the assistance of her fellow Rutgers classmate, Elizabeth Leonard. Its social media presence has grown to include Facebook (retired in 2016), Twitter and a LinkedIn group, in addition to the interviews, articles and jobs found on INALJ. INALJ has had over 21 Million page hits and helped many, many thousands of librarians find employment! Through grassroots marketing, word of mouth and a real focus on exploring unconventional resources for job leads, INALJ grew from a subscription base of 20 friends to a website with over 500,000 visits in one month. Naomi believes that well-sourced quantity is quality in this narrow job market and INALJ reflects this with many new jobs published daily. She has also written for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 LexisNexis Government Info Pro and many other publications in the past decade. She presents whenever she can, including serving on three panels at the American Library Association's Annual Conference in Las Vegas; as breakout presenter at OCLC EMEA in Cape Town, South Africa; as a keynote speaker at the Virginia Library Association annual meeting; at the National Press Club in Washington DC; McGill University in Montreal, Canada; the University of the Emirates, Dubai, MLIS program and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Naomi was a Reference, Marketing and Acquisitions Librarian for a contractor at a federal library outside Washington, DC, and has been living and working in Budapest, Hungary and Western New York State. She spent years running her husband’s moving labor website, fixed and sold old houses and assisted her husband cooking delicious Pakistani food. She is preparing to re-enter the workforce and is job hunting. Her husband is now the co-editor of INALJ, a true support!  She has heard of spare time but hasn’t encountered it lately. She pronounces INALJ as eye-na-elle-jay. 

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