✨ To Whomever Else This May Concern

I've been in a process of looking for my next role. A primary source of stable income. A full-time or contract job. Another part of a whole.

I've spent nearly four years as a self-employed individual with some freelance/seasonal work, and in that process, it has also been a deconditioning journey for my mind and body to work with its own flow.

Since Saturn Return ended, I've been reconnecting to my desires and a sense of inner direction. By following where my body leads me to everyday, I've found myself exploring the material world of careers and formal employment, spending time browsing what's out there in the job market.

What's been pulling me in are roles related to software product support.

The very first formal application I chose to engage with was for a well-known design education organisation that operates remotely. I spent 33 days on my preparation process, from breaking down the job details to match our alignment in values and expectations, to reviewing the past ten years of my working life to craft my 'letter of interest'.

Their instructions: "Write in a few paragraphs why you want to put your heart, mind, and hard work into this particular job."

This job opportunity was a solid 90% alignment with the work I enjoy doing, confident I do well in, and the shared values of the company's and mine. But when it came to writing the introduction email, I was stuck. Mind was reacting to the instructions by revisiting corporate recruitment 'standards' with various types of personae.

A week or so had gone by, the job board recorded close to 900+ applicants, and then it struck me. Recalling the defined Mind, Throat and G centres in my Human Design BodyGraph, the ways I consistently express myself: what I know or not (23-43), what I remember or not (33-13). So I decided to start by writing a letter to 'Me'.

This was the first draft result – raw, unfiltered.

Dear Me,

This is what I know to be true...

"... sensible people get paid for doing what they enjoy doing." ~ Alan Watts

Out of all the diverse jobs I've invested my Heart's work (hard work) in over the past ten years, all of which gave me a sense of fulfilment and purpose, the perfect formula for sustainably thriving in my unique way of being is: Autonomy & Independence + Lifestyle + Security & Stability.

With every job experience, I get closer to knowing what truly are my talents and gifts, and the role that best suits me. This career journey is integral to my personal growth and self-discovery on the essence of my Life's work: what it means to be uniquely me, Freda.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." ~ Marcel Proust

A recent key insight I've come to fully realise (though evident in my resumé now) is that a clear sign that a specific job and I are not the best match in the long term is when I explore and dive into a very different role after. This has been the case with every professional experience in my journey, with a significant exception in my latest adventure with YOUnique Research as an independent collaborator on a monthly retainer – a highly organised Administrator with a key focus in technical support.

It is with this experience – the initiatives I undertook on my own and the culture the team organically co-created – that has awakened my passion for what I do best while also showing me that this is the world (environment/community/home) I want to continue being a part of.

A world where everyone has “the freedom to become the best possible version of themselves”, while absolutely loving what they do.

An environment where everyone has the "freedom to work in a distraction-free and supportive space", with the autonomy of working according to their best focus hours (async remote).

A community where everyone is empowered with individual freedom and independent decision-making, while "continuously deliver excellent results, collaborate effectively, prioritize wisely, and improve our skills and performance."

A ’home’ where everyone feels safe and empowered to share and grow together in diverse aspects, "taking great care of each other, celebrating each other’s work and having fun."

You may recognise the words above that had been extracted from your carefully detailed careers page. These are the values I also seek to share with an organisation in a harmonious partnership. I've had the privilege to first experience it in my time with YOUnique Research, both as a peer reader and as an independent contractor, and I hope to be able to partake in <Hiring Company's> culture as a full-time <Hiring Role>.

In 2020, I applied with <Hiring Company> for the same role that had a different job description and requirements. Without much relevant key experiences to that, I connected to applying for it based on how much possibilities I could see myself molding into the role of a <unique term 🦄 used at Hiring Company>. That was just who I was at that time.

Three years later, so much has changed.

Having been awakened to the type of work and role I enjoy putting my heart, mind and energy into, I was looking for similar opportunities with what I've been doing at YOUnique Research, where my average workload is two days a week (I'd love to take on and do more on a regular basis).

So when I stumbled upon <Hiring Company's> updated job description and requirements this time round, I genuinely felt a resonance to who I am, what I love doing and do best in: an innovative and meticulous self-starter, with a nerdy intrinsic drive to troubleshooting technical user issues that arise, and collaboratively working with a team of like-minded professionals, towards service excellence for the community served.

Embracing the <unique term 🦄 used at Hiring Company> aspect in me now (in every sense), applying for this job naturally became the next step to endeavour.

"A sensitive person gets paid for playing - that’s the art of life." ~ Alan Watts, in conversation with Eugene Burger

Over the past few years as a self-employed individual, a pivotal transformation gained in structuring my own schedule was learning to honour the natural rhythms of my body, what it takes to set the stage for my flow state, and what Flow looks and feels like.

Now that the routine has stabilised over time, along with careful iterative curation on my passion and strengths, I find that my default network mode when it comes to what many call "Work" is actually my state of "Play".

As my favourite philosopher-entertainer said, "To be completely engaged in the here and now. And, instead of calling it work, realise it is play."

This was “hard work” that did not happen overnight, but a relationship I've deconditioned, relearnt and nurtured into my everyday life. So when challenges and sticky situations arise, it actually feels like I'm engaged in a special quest while still being in my flow state. How wonderful is that?