10 Days to Wicked Faire - Part 1

Not sure who everyone is, please consult the Dramatis Personae page.

Monday, January 22nd, 2018

In a future article, I will discuss the
background of what lead to this
conflict and why the former staff
harbored such serious resentment.

On Monday, January 22nd, Jeff Mach, owner of Jeff Mach Events, made a post to Facebook looking for volunteers and staff for an upcoming event. Wicked Faire would be running in Princeton, New Jersey two weeks later on February 2nd. When I saw the post, I thought nothing of it. My wife, being much smarter than I, had a bad feeling about it.

This single post would be the one small spark that ignited the dry kindling of resentment, bitterness, and disappointment that Jeff had created in a decade and a half of business dealings. Jeff’s single minded focus on creating events had led him to neglect the people most important to both his professional and his personal life. But for a dedicated staff that stepped in during this crisis, his lack of personal balance would have doomed this event, and done terrible financial harm to hundreds of people who relied on it.

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2018

The following day, a number of former staff took screenshots of the original recruiting post and captioned them with variations on the theme that no one should ever work for Jeff Mach, that he didn’t pay his people, that he mistreated them, etc. These response posts began to sprout up like weeds, and a flurry of comments began to fly.

At this time, I had been working with Jeff Mach Events for 12 years. I did not actually speak to Jeff all that often. He is remarkably hard to get a hold of. Some of my role had always been advisory. With business experience in wider fandom and events as well as in the mainstream world, I felt that I had a range of knowledge that could be valuable. In fact, as all the facts came out, it became apparent that issues which I had warned him about years ago would lead to his ultimate downfall.

I misread the situation to just be some bitter former staff sharing sour grapes, so I jumped into the fray with some moderate comments, such as one in which I replied to a commenter who said that she had never heard a single positive review of working for JME with a reply that I had never had a problem there. This turned out to be quite unwise as I ended putting myself on Jeff’s side just before what would happen next.

Amid the comments about how bad it was to work for Jeff Mach Events, one single comment foreshadowed the next step of the crisis. A woman whom we shall refer to as SM posted a short comment saying that Jeff had committed a “consent violation” against her when she was 16 (the age of consent in New Jersey is 16). It mostly went by without notice at the time, but we would hear the rest of that story soon.

On Wednesday, January 24th, a woman posted on a kink-related social media site the full account of what she refers to as a consent violation. The allegation is discussed in this article on the Daily Beast.  The conversation shifted from Jeff being a bad boss and a bad businessman to Jeff being a “sexual predator”, “rapist”, and, after SM’s story came out in full, “child molester.”

Honest people can debate whether the terms used above are too extreme for the actual allegations, but the allegations combined with an already large group of detractors who wanted to see Jeff suffer for what he had done to them professionally, led to rumors and speculations far in excess of the actual allegations themselves.

Thursday, January 25th, 2018

On Thursday, January 25th, eight days before Wicked Faire was scheduled to begin, Elise Potenza began contacting department heads and working to convince them that we should give Jeff an ultimatum that he must not attend Wicked Faire or we would boycott the event. This led the department heads to decide that we all needed to start talking as a group about what was happening.

Believe it or not, the last full staff in person meeting was the morning of the first day of Glimmerdark in February of 2017. There had never been in recent history a full meeting of department heads or leadership whether in person or online. All communication was one to one or routed through the executive leadership. For the first time, the leadership would come together, and during this time, more than once, it would be remarked that we should have been doing that all along.

There were 11 key people involved in the discussion, not including Jeff himself because the conversation was about what we would do about him. We spoke for many hours on Thursday, and this would set the pattern of my evenings for the next week: conversations on Facebook Messenger late into the night.

Almost no one in these meetings had any kind of executive leadership in the company. Elise Potenza and Jakal Blackwell had been on the Executive Committee the previous Fall, but were no longer in that role. When this occurred, there was no executive leadership structure at all. Each department head ran their own department and communication between departments was pretty much as much as was necessary and little more.

For my own part, Amy and I would come down from Connecticut, have some fun and do some work and head home. It was not uncommon for us to arrive and start asking around to figure out who was in charge at this event because there had been some staff change that we had not heard of.

It is important to recognize that this was not a meeting of the executive board. This was a meeting of the head janitor, the IT guy from the basement that no one knew, the head of the mail room, the guy from the stock room, the front desk guard, etc. who had a situation to deal with and rose to the level to deal with it. Other than Elise and Jakal, no one else was significantly involved in high level company issues until this moment.

During the course of these virtual meetings, I got to know Tammy Shipps. I had not known Tammy except as one of Jeff’s “assistants.” Jeff had two kinds of assistants: competent people whom he paid to do work and submissive women that he dated whom he had work for him as part of the relationship. We quickly learned that Tammy was the former, but when this first started many assumed that she was the latter. This unknown assistant who helped with the web site would soon rise to prominence as a key figure in the story as we came to know her.

We talked for hours about what we should do. Should we send Jeff a letter? Should someone call him? Should he come for part of the event but leave early? Should we try to reach out to certain people?

At the end of this long conversation, it was decided that we should call Jeff and advise him to step back from this event and not attend. I was selected to make the phone call. When I called, we had a long talk, and he explained that this was a conspiracy by various key former staff members to do him in. Previously, these staff members had done such things as call the Department of Revenue to cause the company to be audited, so this was just their next volley. He believed that these attacks could be fought with the truth, and over time I was convinced.

It was also during this call that I suggested to him that Tammy should be placed in a role of leadership of the company, which turned out to be one of the most important things that I did during the entire crisis. Her loyalty to the community and the events, her lack of personal ambition, and her clear thinking and organization led me to believe that she would be an excellent choice, and Jeff agreed.

I spoke to some of the other staff, and they agreed with me. If this was, in fact, just an attack by disgruntled former staff, then we could not give in. We had to stand up to them and show them that we would not back down. To our perspective, Jeff Mach was the creative genius who had created these amazing events, and without him we would not have this community that we did.

Friday, January 26th, 2018

On Friday, January 26th, additional conversations had been held, and Jeff decided that it would be best not to attend Wicked Faire. At this time, I was still of the mindset that we were fighting an attack against our community rather than dealing with the revelation of damning accusations against our leader, and I felt that Jeff backing down would be a form of weakness in the face of evil. In the fullness of time, I would come to understand that the attack was indeed organized, but that the germ of that opposition had been a large collection of people who had been wronged in one way or another by Jeff Mach and finally had the opportunity to take action.

On Friday, I had not realized this, and I pushed for the idea that we should stand with Jeff as he stepped back for the chance to take stock of what he had done and find ways to improve himself and become a better person and a better leader.

That evening two statements were drafted. We drafted an apology for Jeff which separately addressed the three types of accusations: his poor business practices, safety at events, and his personal conduct.

In recent days a number of things have been said regarding my conduct both personally and professionally. Many of the things said were valid, while others may have been the result of rumors. Some of the issues raised are from a long time ago and have been addressed, while others are more recent.

I would like to address three different concerns: the company's failure to treat some individuals fairly, safety concerns at events, and consent concerns.

There are a number of people to whom we, as a company, have financial obligations that we have not fulfilled. In some cases it was honest error on my part. We now have an excellent financial manager who is working very hard to straighten out our books. She is currently developing a program to determine who might be owed money and to work to repay those debts. Some of our debts go back many years, so it may take many years to pay them, but we are dedicated to making this right.

Safety concerns regarding bans is very complex. In the complaints that have been raised, there there are some about those who should have been banned or ejected but were not, and also complaints from those who were banned or ejected who feel they should not have been.

Our Consent Team has been replaced, and new policies will be announced shortly to make our process clearer and more easily navigated. Furthermore, we have hired an independent moderator who will serve when accusations are directed towards senior staff members:

http://jeffmachevents.org/ab…/incident-mediation-assistance/

Finally, and most importantly, there is the matter of consent. When one is in a position of authority, one can lose their sense of perspective and lose sight of things that might harm another person. It is no excuse for such errors, and sometimes it can take a public reckoning to bring home a truth that I should have been able to find on my own.

In reading the accounts of the three individuals who have been brave enough to step forward, I have realized that my actions have been inadvertently harmful to many people. I would like to step back from my public role to take the chance to reexamine many parts of my life that I have taken for granted, and I hope that may return a better person and a better part of the community.

I am gratified that my entire staff has remained dedicated to our events and our attendees. Tammy Shipps will be leading the company as our head of all operations, assisted by Amy Whitehouse as her administrative assistant. Our talented and experienced department heads and contractors will continue to do the great work I have come to depend on them for, and I hope that we can all focus on having a fun, safe weekend at Wicked Faire.

The staff leadership then drafted our own statement in which we indicated that we were upset by the allegations, and that we agreed that Jeff should step back to improve himself, but indicated a solidarity behind the events. Around this time, we found out that there had been a rumor circulating that Jeff’s original post that started this all had been because 80% of our staff and volunteers had left, which is likely what emboldened them to act at this time. We wanted to make clear that none of us had left and that we were all standing by the events.

Like most people, we were shocked by the allegations regarding Jeff Mach that have come out this week. While some of the allegations were over a decade old, some of more recent ones were still concerning. However, as people who work closely with Jeff, we do not feel he is the monster that some people are making him out to be. He is a flawed man, and perhaps a public accounting is what he needs to realize that there are some things he needs to change.

Jeff is taking the time to step back and address those most important things, especially those failings that have led him to hurt people when he did not intend to. As his staff, we support him in his efforts to improve and stand by him. We look forward to, after a period of reflection for him to learn the ways that he must improve, his return to his work that has brought joy to so many.

Ultimately, that is why we are all remaining with the company and continuing in our roles. For all of his flaws, Jeff Mach has built a series of events like no one else could, although many have tried. Over the decade and a half that Jeff Mach Events has operated, thousands of people have found events that gave them a joy that nothing else could. There have been mistakes and missteps, like in any enterprise, but we learn from each one, we improve, we get stronger, and we serve our community better with each passing year.

We look forward to seeing you, our friends, whether you are new to us or well known, next week at Wicked Faire!

~ JME Staff

In retrospect, both letters had been remarkably tone deaf to the wider conversation. Rereading these statements as I write this, I believe that they well address the points to a calm, uninterested observer. Calm and uninterested did not describe the audience we were speaking to. The audience we were speaking to was out for blood. While the actual accusations were published publicly, very few people took the time to read them, and simply accepted the rumors which included rape and outright theft.

At this moment, we were largely flying blind. There was one individual who had more detailed knowledge of the allegations against Jeff, but she refused to share even the broadest outlines of that information, citing confidentiality. Our suggestions that this was the moment when what she knew could actually evoke the action that had been sought when the allegations were first made fell on deaf ears.

It is understandable that this person might have been concerned about sharing identifying information about the accusers, but we were not even asking for that. We just wanted broad outlines. As I said, "Is it a rape allegation? It is an assault allegation? Did he eat a child? Did he fuck a monkey?"

For reference, the relevant portion of the chat log is included below, since this has been mentioned a number of times in the discussions of this article.

To be continued...

Please return tomorrow for part 2, in which our team removes Jeff Mach from the company to the greatest extent possible and we discover the extent of the organization of those trying to shut down Wicked Faire.

.

Walking and Thinking in a Winter Wonderland

It's April 2nd and it's snowing. With the year I've had, this does not even register as a surprising event. Simply a present fact.

I've been having a bit of trouble sleeping these past few weeks. It's not that I can't get to sleep, but I'll wake up and my mind is up and ready to go while my body is not so much. I'd frequently found myself waking up around 4 or 5 AM and I'd lie there and try to get back to sleep. Trying and failing to sleep may be the most unproductive activity known to mankind.

So, the other day, I set for myself a rule. If I woke up after 4 AM, I'd get up and either take a walk or write, or, if there is time, both.

At 5 AM this morning, I woke up to follow this protocol. I showered, dressed, and stepped out to take a walk.

Walking in a Winter Spring Wonderland

It was snowing, and that's okay. The funny thing about walking in the snow (if the ground is not slippery) is that it doesn't bother you so much if you don't let it. If you're rushing around trying to get to work, it's a miserable experience. But if you're just trying to get your head right for the day, it can be quite pleasant.

Much of what I thought about on this walk was things that I might write about.

One topic that has gotten my attention as I've begun studying the proposed municipal budget for Groton is healthcare costs. They rise between 6% and 8% every year. That means they double approximately every decade. This increase represent a 1% increase to the town budget every year. Does anyone else see the looming economic calamity that this math implies?

I've also been giving some thought as to what parts of the Silver Phoenix Society story I should share, and in what order. It's a very complex story, and other than the few people who were directly involved, almost no one knows even half of it.

Then there's other topics. Should I discuss the perennial activity in our culture around this time of year of making fun of Christianity's most sacred holiday? Or the fact that most Christians themselves don't give proper respect to their own most sacred day?

Should I talk about guns and the fact that the debate is conducted almost entirely in hyperbole without the intercession of facts on either side?

So much to think about. So few snowy days to walk around in.

Probably won't be more than three or four days like this in April.

What do you think I should write about? Let me know at feedback@michaelwhitehouse.org.

Talk More, Smile More

There are two lines from Hamilton that are frequently quoted but which have limited utility in the real world. The first is:

Jefferson: If there’s a fire you’re trying to douse/You can’t put it out from inside the house

This is a catchy line except I checked with a friend of mine who's a firefighter. If you're trying to douse a house fire, you have to go inside the house. The only thing you can do from outside the house is keep the fire from spreading to other structures.

It's also wrong metaphorically. If there is an organization that is doing something wrong, the only place that change can really occur is from within. Sure, you can protest or boycott or legislate, but all of those things simply apply pressure so that those who are inside will create the change you desire. If you apply enough pressure from outside, you may simply cause the organization to collapse taking the good with the bad, which is often an undesirable outcome.

So, dousing fires: must be done from inside the house.

The other is:

Burr: Talk less, Smile more. 

I've been more reticent than I would normally be for two reasons. The first is that my business involves acquiring clients, and it is important not to offend prospective clients with strong political views. The second, more recently, was that I was trying to save an event, Steampunk Worlds Fair, in the face of an angry mob on the Internet.

For the first issue, I find that I offend when I talk a little, such as sharing a partisan meme or short video clip, but I rarely offend when I speak in long format such as a blog post. This may be because people don't like to read a lot of words so they don't actually read the posts, or it may be because a longer format gives me the opportunity to fully explain the issue and the nuances of it, discussing common ground and possibly educating rather than just inflaming. Either way, it works better to talk more.

In the second effort, I was unsuccessful. In retrospect, I believe that part of my lack of success was because, as an organization, the team I was working with chose a strategy of reticence. Official statements were few and far between meaning that rumors, offhand comments, and other scraps of information could not be clarified or explained. We were helpless before the winds of rumor, tossed in a stormy sea of innuendo and suspicion which is born of silence.

Thus, all signs point to the conclusion that I must talk more. Now that I am no longer involved officially with any event running organization, it is time that I share some clarifying details and background information which may not have been shared previously, and which I feel may help to inform the ongoing discourse.

Even in other arenas, I feel that I have something to contribute. I had become frustrated trying to discuss political issues because I had been doing it in the wrong format. I have spoken elsewhere about the tragic descent of discourse when we moved from Live Journal to Facebook and Twitter. Live Journal was a shared journaling platform. People communicated in long form, at least a few paragraphs. Now we communicate in 140 characters or a meme or image. We've devolved from arguments to schoolyard taunts and our society is all the poorer for it.

I, for one, shall be returning to the longer form of discussion. You will agree with some things I say. You will disagree with others. My intention is not to make everyone agree with me by any means, but simply to make them understand where I am coming from.

Perhaps you shall join me, share your own views in long format. I am eager to read them.

If there is something you'd like me to write about, please reach out to me at feedback@michaelwhitehouse.org.

2018: Looking Forward More than Back

I have had two separate incidents in the past week that got me looking backwards. The way I often do it is look year by year. 2006 was the year that I seemed to achieve everything I was hoping for. 2007 was the year I lost it all. It's not a good thing to do, but I find myself doing it. Year by year I summarize my life, lamenting what is lost and feeling that some of my best days are back there.

One reason my best days are ahead.

But are they? I am poised to have my most lucrative year in 2018, making more than I've ever made financially. I have a brilliant young daughter who is developing spectacularly, and a wonderfully supportive wife. I am finding my place in my community, making connections socially, professionally, and politically. I'm even an elected official.

So, I decided to take my usually backward facing process and point it forward. With the predictability
that working with BVM brings me, I can actually map out year by year what things might look like going forward.

If 2017 was the year of taxiing to the right runway and applying the throttle, 2018 will be the year of climbing into the air. I will be in a position to serve my community as I never have before, both through my role on the RTM and through Groton Mystic Neighbors. When the magazine gets to print, it will provide a resource for Mystic like nothing else that exists. It will still be a lot of work to get it up and going, but it will be the more engaging next stage.

2019 will be the year of taking things to the next level. With Groton Mystic Neighbors being a significant part of the community, I'll be able to focus more on service, taking a larger role in Rotary, possibly doing more for the town officially, and maybe being involved in other organizations. I will also be able to rededicate more energy into ConCardia.

2020 will be the year that Rowan turns 6. Much will depend on what she needs as she enters school, but I will be in a position to have the resources to provide her whatever she might need, whether it's more of my time or money for a private school or anything else. She will also be old enough to start to understand some of the exciting things her parents are involved in and start to learn about them.

Of course, there is an old saying that if you want to make God laugh, make plans, and long term plans even more so. However, I am in a position to plan like I have never been before. While it lacks the excitement of the unknown that I enjoyed in my youth, it replaces the unpredictable hope with a steady confidence which serves me much better at this point in my life.

Happy New Year, and may 2018 be our best yet.

The Story of a Cat Person

Note: this story is an alternate point of view of Cat Person by Kristen Roupenian in the December 11th, 2017 issue of the New Yorker. Cat Person is a brilliantly written piece that was created with considerable effort and does an excellent job of presenting a very realistic and relatable story. I highly recommend you read Cat Person first. This story was written in one day as a response and commentary. The purpose of this story is to expand the discussion and perspective that has been created by this very popular and excellent story, as well as to explore the mental states that a passionate relationship can create. Ms. Roupenian deserves all credit for any quality you find below. All quotes are from the original story, and this is simply a fair use derivative to expand the narrative.

Robert did not consider himself a lonely man, but he would generally be considered a loner, largely because the whole “people thing” did not often work out well for him. He didn’t understand them well. He had some friends: people he hung out with, gamed with, maybe had a beer with, but no one he was really close with.

He’d dated a few women, but it always ended the same way, with his heart broken and her going off on her merry way, likely happy to be rid of him.

Robert could be described as awkward. The word “aspy” had been suggested, as in describing someone with Aspergers Syndrome, the mildest form of Autism. He didn’t disagree.

This is why he would do things like go out to the movies by himself. He didn’t have anyone to go with, and that was fine. It was him and his cats. It was nice enough. Who needs a girlfriend? Cat’s never break your heart.

He liked the artsy theater downtown because it had the movies that most people were too stupid to understand, and he liked to go midweek because there were less of the morons there who came the movie but came anyway to impress their equally moronic girlfriends, ruining the experience by fiddling with their phones all night.

He approached the concession stand and ordered his customary large popcorn and box of Red Vines, largely oblivious to who was behind the counter.

“That’s an… unusual choice,” the concession-stand girl opined. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually sold a box of Red Vines before.”

He suddenly noticed the young, bubbly girl behind the counter. Probably because you’re too busy on Instasnapping and Facetweeting to notice what you’re selling, he thought to himself. He was used to people making fun of him for this or that, but didn’t expect it here.

Not knowing what to say, he said, “Well, O.K. then,” and pocketed his change, heading to his seat and trying to put it out of his mind to enjoy the movie.

The next week he came back to the theater. The same pretty young girl was there behind the concession stand. He asked for another box of Red Vines. She handed it over without commentary this time.

“You’re getting better at your job. You managed not to insult me this time.” It never hurt to show some appreciation when someone did something you liked. He’d heard that somewhere.

In the split second between when he finished speaking and when she replied, he had that feeling that he had maybe said something he shouldn’t have. Wasn’t sure exactly what. He had said the truth. But some people got offended by that.

“I’m up for a promotion, so…” she shrugged.

She did seem offended. Was that a joke? Was she engaging in banter with him? Sometimes he bantered online, especially in the role playing rooms where he could adopt a persona. It was easier online. He had time to think. Time to be witty and clever. Never done it in person.

These thoughts wandered through his head throughout the movie. The movie was in French anyway, so he didn’t really follow it. He’d heard that some people got along so well that awkwardness fell away. He’d seen these kinds of people on TV, of course, but when Aaron Sorkin writes your lines it’s easy to be clever. He’d actually known some couples who were like that. Alex and Joanna, for example, two of his gaming friends that bounced off each other like a comic duo. Could this Concession-stand girl be his Joanna?

He was still half lost in thought when he left the movie, so he quite surprised himself when he heard “Concession-stand girl, give me your phone number,” come out of his mouth. He was more surprised when she did.

How We Fail Most Children

I have always been passionate about education, more specifically, the fact that most Americans reach adulthood lacking most of the soft skills that are required for great success in our culture and economy.

I attended a well funded, highly rated high school from which I went to an excellent university, and I came out with a cum laude degree and almost none of the skills or knowledge that I would need to be successful beyond academia.

It is no mystery what I needed to know, nor are they difficult skills to teach: business planning, goal setting, salesmanship, networking, and the like. Furthermore, I was fortunate to have learned that our economy is such that opportunity still exists and that you need to know to look for it. Too many young adults do not know this, which is why some of the best minds of my generation are flipping burgers or working at the mall.

With the birth of my daughter, I have given a great deal of thought to this over the past few years. Knowing that the education system will fail to provide her this array of skills and knowledge, how will I supplement that education to prepare her for success?

The juxtaposition of a number of interactions with particular people and groups this week has reminded me that this is a much broader problem affecting almost every young person approaching adulthood, but that there are resources which could be mobilized to help.

The fundamental problem is that education has been structured by experts who are focused on the acquisition of knowledge who lack expertise in how that knowledge is executed to create results in adulthood. The focus has become testable knowledge: accountable, concrete, useless. We can talk about test scores doing this or that without recognizing that many high achieving students become low achieving, unhappy adults.

The solution is simple but not easy.
We must teach our children that opportunities exist if they are bold enough to seek them.
We must teach them the basic skills for success in adult life: networking, salesmanship, grit and resilience, goal setting and achieving, and business concepts such as marketing, bookkeeping, and the like.
We must teach them the value of entrepreneurship, whether in terms of running their own business or simply thinking of themselves as the masters of their own commercial destiny rather than drones in a vast capitalist machine.

These things are not difficult to teach, and the first step would be to teach them to the most motivated to learn: the top and bottom students. The top students are eager to learn and succeed and they desire to know how to succeed at the next level. At the other end of the spectrum, many very intelligent students drop out, burn out, or tune out because they have not learned these things, and they would benefit the most from them because the lack of this knowledge is why they have disengaged from the educational system.

They could be taught in afterschool programs. They could be taught as courses in school. They could be directed independent study projects. There is a variety of options, but it must be done. An entire generation of millennials have fallen into adulthood, saddled with student loan debt, unprepared for a dynamic and changing economy, and we are all suffering for it.

This can be better. Together we can find a way.

On Gratitude

Gratitude is a deconstructed element of faith. Some of the happiest people that you will ever meet have a profound and and deep faith in some form of God. I don't mean the people who wave the Bible around and tell you why you're a sinner. I mean those people who just seem very serine all the time no matter what is happening; as if they have read the last page of the novel and they know how all of this will turn out.

A life of Gratitude is a key part of this serenity. Anytime something happens in your life, your emotional reaction to it is only loosely connected to how good or bad it is in reality. If you get a promotion and a raise at work, you can see it as a very exciting thing or you can see it as a whole lot of extra work with only a little more money. If you lose your job, you can see it as a disaster or you can see it as an opportunity to find something better.

Gratitude is crucial to being able to control the difference for yourself. Being grateful is not just something that "good people" do because they should. Gratefulness is something that you do because it is good for you.

I mention faith because most people have encountered faithful people who give thanks to God no matter what happens. If they are starving in the woods, and have nothing left but a handful of trail mix, they will give thanks to God for that trail mix. What would most of us do? Probably be upset that we're out of food and about to starve.

But think about the difference this could have in your life. How many blessings do you have every day that you don't even think about.

• If you are reading this, you are blessed to have access to the Internet, giving you access to all the assembled knowledge of mankind. 
• You either have your eyesight, or some other method to read. 
• If you live in America or another developed country, you live in relative security with a level of technology that was science fiction just 20 years ago. 
• If you are able to work then you have health that allows you to do so.

But what about when bad things happen. How can you be thankful for that. Let's say you lose your job. It is reasonable to be angry or anxious, but the anger and anxiety will pass more quickly if you can get to a place of gratitude. What might you have to be grateful for?

• You are now free to find a new and better opportunity.
• You gained certain skills and experiences which are now yours to capitalize on.
• You may have friends and connections through the last job.

Many of us go through our lives in fear and anger. Upset about this and worried about that, but what if, instead of looking at everything that might go wrong or has gone wrong, we look at what has gone right? Think about how that would change your average day. 

Think about the posts you make on social media. Are they negative or positive. What if you made just one more every day that expressed gratitude for something? What if you made an effort to thank someone every day for something they had done in your life? Imagine the difference this slight change might make.

I write this article aspirationally. I often find myself focusing on what I have lost rather than what I have, and it does not bring joy. Perhaps, starting today, we can start down this road of gratitude together. I can start by thanking you for reading this article.