Upside Down Cats

A case study - in case you aren't familiar with the term - is a factual vignette presented as a short story. Think of it as a verbal snapshot of a specific situation. They're intended to draw the reader into a scenario in which he identifies with the subject and/or the problem presented in the case study. They're often open-ended, sparking the reader's independent consideration of the issue.

Writing case studies differs from other the other types of professional writing I do (like articles, eBooks, blog posts, instructional guides and website text) due to their particular purpose and unique format. Since I first became aware of them, case studies have seemed like an interesting challenge. I've thought of interesting topics over the last few months and added them to my independent projects to-do list, to write when I have free time. Lately it seems case studies are everywhere and they're wanting to be written by me!

At first I was leery of writing case studies because of their very nature which is quite unlike all those other pieces I write and especially my "anything goes so long as it flows" style which I employ here on my blog. No, case studies are more like writing poetry, complete with definitive guidelines distinguishing their construction from that of plain ol' prose.

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What a difference a year makes - #29

2009: The year was...challenging to say the least. I think I've sufficiently expressed the many ways in which it was the worst year we've experienced through my daily NaBloPoMo "snapshots." Today is the final day of NaBloPoMo - time to put this exercise in contrast - and the memories of a really rotten year - behind me.

It's been cathartic putting a difficult year into words. Hopefully I've conveyed not only the depths of our despair but how it's the little things that day by day are changing to make 2010 a better year.

2010: I am acutely aware that we are not the only ones who have had a bad year, are having a bad year or will have a bad year. It unfortunately happens to everyone.

All I can do as a survivor of One Miserable Mother of a Year is offer some encouragement to others: It will end. Things will turn around. Maybe not soon or as quickly as you want or even the way that you hope. But they will get better.

Sometimes it's a matter of really looking hard (under every rock falling from the sky onto your head) for things to improve - but YES, things WILL get better. And someday in the future, you'll be able to look back from better circumstances, smiling for no apparent reason - and think to yourself:

What a difference a year makes.

Wondering what NaBloPoMo is? Read this to learn all about it and why (and how) I'm participating!

What a difference a year makes - #28

2009: There is no way I would have thought I could write an eBook. I don't think I would even have had the courage to take on such a project.

Inconceivable.

2010: As of today, I am an eBook author. I submitted the copy to my client this afternoon.

Unbelievable.

Wondering what NaBloPoMo is? Read this to learn all about it and why (and how) I'm participating!

What a difference a year makes - #27

The following is an homage to my NaBloPoMo'09 challenge: 30 haikus for 30 days.

2009:

Hopeless. Nothing's right.
Gray clouds follow every step.
Neverending grief.

2010:

Hope is born again.
Smiling face feels free and light.
Creativity!

Wondering what NaBloPoMo is? Read this to learn all about it and why (and how) I'm participating!

What a difference a year makes - #26

2009: I was worried. I was anxious. I was scared. I was sad. I was angry. I was stifled. I was uncertain. I was emotionally numb. I was lost. 

I was not me.

2010: I am calm. I am peaceful. I am secure. I am happy. I am free. I am creative.I am confident. I am in touch with my emotions. I am precisely where I should be.

I am me.

Wondering what NaBloPoMo is? Read this to learn all about it and why (and how) I'm participating!

What a difference a year makes - #25

2009: Any spare change was far from "spare." Last year, we wouldn't think of taking a pocketful of change for granted. Every last cent was carefully counted out so that we could scrape together enough to buy a gallon of milk or a few gallons of gas. It was strictly down to the last penny for everything.

Our financial crunch happened so suddenly that before we knew it, we had no reserves, no backup and no Plan B. We went from having some money to having no money. Frankly, it was a difficult adjustment to make - but one that we had to live with until we could dig our way out.

2010: Scott was so happy to put a handful of change into the piggy bank last week. Imagine, we thought, how nice it was to have 68 cents to consider "spare" again. It is such a small thing but one that really made an impact on us - reminding us not only how bad times were but how far we've come since.

The lessons we learned from 2009 will not easily be forgotten. They changed us forever. We'll never fail to take notice of even the small victories - because, under different circumstances, they might not be so small.

Wondering what NaBloPoMo is? Read this to learn all about it and why (and how) I'm participating!

What a difference a year makes - #24

2009: I was thrilled each and every day to be in love with and loved by my Sweetie, Scott. Although we were going through the most awful of years, our love remained strong and unwavering. No matter what went wrong on the exterior of our life, we could always count on our love being there, without question and without fall. That love saw us through the darkness of 2009.

2010: The only difference this year is that instead of hard times, we now share hopeful times. Our love remains the heartbeat of both our lives. That heartbeat keeps beating no matter what - if we didn't know it then, we sure do know it now!

Some things are not that different this year after all.

Because it's Thanksgiving, I want the world to know that I am so very thankful for my Sweetie, today and tomorrow, last year and this.

Wondering what NaBloPoMo is? Read this to learn all about it and why (and how) I'm participating!

What a difference a year makes - #23

2009: As I was embarking on a career as writer, we were having the most difficult year of our lives. I was gaining clients slowly but surely and transitioning from one career to another. I was thrilled for the opportunities to write that came my way professionally but I found my desire to write for just the sake of writing - on my blog - waning. I hardly wrote at all on Upside Down Cats at all and that was sad because it was such a creative and cathartic outlet for me. Oh, part of me wanted to - and wanted to want to - but I found I just couldn't. I felt trapped in a mindset that wouldn't let me express myself with my words.

I now believe it was because I was afraid of expressing what I was feeling in the written word. Like I wrote yesterday, when concepts get transferred into the "writing" side of my brain, they become real. I didn't want 2009 to be any more real than it was.

2010: It has been a whirlwind of a year in many ways. I write for clients nearly every day and that is very satisfying. For a while I was struggling to learn time management for my new career so I literally didn't have time to write recreationally. Now, however, even though I'm busier than ever, I can and do find time to blog.

I think that I find the time now because life is more balanced for me. I don't fear having it all be real - in fact I welcome it. I am so glad to have my pleasure writing returned to me. It keeps me sane, fulfills my spirit and makes me feel like I am fully experiencing my life.

Wondering what NaBloPoMo is? Read this to learn all about it and why (and how) I'm participating!

What a difference a year makes - #22

2009: Anything that broke last year was big: the washing machine, the downstairs bathroom, the tivo... If it was going to bother breaking, it was going down to the tune of hundreds or thousands of dollars we didn't have.

2010: A kind Samaritan got our attention at a red light a couple days ago to tell us one of our brake lights was out. We replaced the bulb today. It cost 97 cents.

We're still a far cry from "in the money" but a 97 cent repair last year would have been a refreshing change of pace!

Wondering what NaBloPoMo is? Read this to learn all about it and why (and how) I'm participating!

What a difference a year makes - #21

2009: I am a natural writer. I am not a natural networker. The thought of needing to "hawk my talents" was the most unappealing part of my new career. It almost incited me to anger that I had to possess the ability not only to creatively and compellingly tell stories with words - but to also broadcast that fact to the world. It felt foreign and uncomfortable whenever I tried, like I was performing some unnatural act against my very nature.

When it came right down to it, however, networking and marketing must absolutely be a component of what I do. If I don't sell my abilities, who will? I knew I had to find a comfortable way to deal with this problem or my writing business was never going to get off the ground.

2010: With some admitted hesitancy, I embarked on some marketing exercises with my career coach. At first she tried to convince me to attend networking get-togethers and make appointments to pick the brains of champion networkers like Realtors. Nuh-uh...that wasn't gonna happen. If I was already feeling uncomfortable, putting me in an awkward situation like that was not going to bring out the best in me. And that in turn wasn't going to present a good image for my business. No, I needed to find a more natural way for me to talk to people about my burgeoning business.

The first real success I encountered was in completing my coach's assignment to articulate my business' offerings into an "elevator pitch." In other words, describe my business in the number of words I would have time to say during a typical elevator ride. That really helped me conceptualize my business, which made putting words to it much easier. Basically it got the words from the "writing" half of my brain to the "speaking" part of my brain.

Now that it comes more freely out of my mouth, you can barely get me to shut up about my business! It all came down to getting the concepts that were in my head - out of my head. The best part is that now the ability to promote my business does feel natural because it is natural - it came from me in my own words and in my own way. As my confidence in my abilities and in my business increases, so does my ability to talk about it with authenticity and authority.

I am very different in the department of self-promotion than I was just one year ago. Who knows, maybe there's a "networking event" in my future yet... (pssst...don't hold your breath!)