Writing Prompt #26

What Job Have you had in Your Past or Present That has Nurtured Your Soul?

Theme: Personal Development

Housekeeping Rules:

Please be mindful of the submission guidelines.

If you’re responding to this writing prompt, please use Writing Prompt 26 in the Kicker.

And, as always, use this weekly prompt to get your writing juices flowing this week or any week after. Also, remember that you don’t have to use the actual writing prompt. You can use the theme to inspire your writing.

If you would prefer to use a previous writing prompt to inspire you:

WRITING PROMPT

What job have you had in your past or present that has nurtured your soul? Was it a person or the job itself that nurtured you? How did you know you were being nurtured? How did you feel?

Feel free to be creative with your submission (i.e. write a poem, flash fiction, combination of poetry and prose, song, play, etc.).

And, just like in previous weeks — make sure to embed a link to another Medium writer’s story. Feel free to see the example I have included below.

Feel free to see the example I have included below. In case you need a tutorial:

If you do not include an embed link, your submission will automatically be returned to you.

Here’s me:

I used to work for the May Company. In the DMV (DC, MD, VA area) it was once known as Hecht’s Department Store until Macy’s bought it out. I was an Art Director. When I first landed the job, I worked in the Production Department as a graphic designer. It was my foot in the door after graduating with my Advertising Design degree.

I was super excited to be there and as time went on, I got to know people in the different departments — Direct Mail and Newspaper. The difference between those two departments was that one was designing and executing direct mail advertisements a customer might receive at home vs. designing newspaper ads.

I got to know more of the people in the Direct Mail department, and one day, I marched over to the Executive Art Director and asked if he would ever have an opening in his department.

“Are you trained?” he asked.

“Yes, I am! I have a degree,” I answered.

“Oh! Well, let’s see what you got,” he said smiling at me. “How about you design a few mock-ups for the upcoming front cover?”

I was beyond excited. “I’m on it!” I said.

A few days later I dropped by his desk and said I was ready to show him what I had designed. He came over to my desk as he browsed through my designs. I noticed him nodding his head and smiling.

Good sign?

Then, he looked up at me and said, “This is good. Ok … we do have an opening and I’m going to put a recommendation in for you to be transferred.”

A chill ran up my spine as I remembered a previous conversation with my Dad as he lay in a hospital bed in his final weeks. I would go by and visit with him every night. It was just the two of us.

One night he looked over at me and asked, “When are you going to become an Art Director?”

I smiled, squeezed his hand, and said, “Soon, Dad, soon.”

Within a few weeks, I was promoted and moved over to the Direct Mail department. I was beyond elated. I was finally doing something that made me happy. It was a very comprehensive job because Art Directors not only kept tabs on their own budgets, but they did layouts, hired models, attended photoshoots in New York as well as attended all buyer meetings for the items being promoted.

What evolved over the following years was a tight camaraderie between myself and my coworkers. Four of the six of us art directors became like family. We were also a high-energy, creative, let’s-have-fun-but-get-the-work-done group. It was super fun to go to work and I enjoyed every part of my job.

To this day, it has been the best job I ever had because it allowed me to use my skills and talents, there was laughter every day, but we also worked hard.

I always felt seen in that job, and that has been key to being a part of something I never thought would happen for me. I also felt a sense of excitement and joy each day when I went to work.

I never thought I would be a creative person before I accidentally stumbled into graphic design.

I also learned a ton. The exciting part of the job (the pièce de resistance) was the photoshoots. I got to explore being a complete Art Director from start to finish of a project, including hiring my own models and photo crew. It taught me how to be professional yet keep the creative edge. I was definitely in my element.

I worked with some of the best photographers and models, which made my job easy. I also worked with some challenging models and that showed me the ugly underbelly of the industry, which made me sad.

But I loved what I did. And no job is perfect all the time, right? But that job, that one job came pretty darn close.

I have been an editor at CRY Magazine for a little bit now and have gotten to know Kern Carter, the publication owner, as a writer. It was because of his personal notes when I submitted to CRY Magazine that made me want to reach out and see if he needed an editor. He is hands down one of the most encouraging humans I have ever encountered.

He has not had an easy journey in life or in his writing career, but he has persevered. And now he’s teaching others how he has not only persevered but succeeded — not as a Medium writer, but as a writer.

Of course, succeeding as a writer on Medium is wonderful, but there’s more to the writing industry and his new course is all about that — helping you, the writer, learn how to be a better writer, how to handle rejections, how to brand, build readership and (this is very important) nurture community.

What about you?

What job have you had in your past or present that has nurtured your soul? Was it a person or the job itself that nurtured you? How did you know you were being nurtured? How did you feel?

Wrap Up

Remember the submission guidelines for writing prompts:

1. Use Writing Prompt #26 in the Kicker
2. Embed the link of a story from a Medium writer at the end of your submission with a couple of sentences about why you connected with that particular story.

I look forward to reading your submissions!

May you know that you are loved because you matter. May your soul be refreshed.