 |
| ISSUE NO. 679 |
| DO YOU EVER FEEL . . . like this piano looks? I don't know about y'all, but as much as I am captivated by the perfect beauty of nature, as well as highly produced and crafted images, films, stories, etc...I really love the beauty of a broken or tarnished thing. With credit to the sidewalk in Clarksdale, Mississippi, on which this piano rested in the spring of 2023, this week finds us showing up with difficulty. Weighed down by grief, frustrated by the systems of oppression we live within, and overwhelmed by the challenges of daily life, we notice that sometimes the only way you can show up is: just as you are. We live in a society that asks us to show up in all kinds of ways we are not. Especially in professional settings, we have to 'put our best foot forward' and 'make a good first impression' and all sorts of other exhausting attempts to control whether other people will feel comfortable and accepting of you. And this is not all bad (though sometimes we are tempted to think so). Boundaries are important, and sometimes we cause further harm, or endure additional harm, when we 'let it all hang out'. But lately, we've been more focused on what happens when we let our truth shine through, rusty or blurred with tears as it may be. In a world of binaries between good and bad, we're moved by the acknowledgment that there are vital aspects of both where we are right now, and where we want to be. And by the wisdom that community organizers recently shared with us: that powerful people live in the tension between the two. We want to ask this week: if living in that tension sounds right to you, if it calls to you or intrigues you...what do you need to sustain your life within that tension? The answer for us right now is connecting with others in shared strength. It might be that you have a cup of tea with someone you know from a professional or public setting, but would like to get to know better. It might be showing up to a meeting in solidarity with others. It might be calling a close friend instead of texting them. It might be that you attend a public ceremony to oppose genocide in Gaza, call your local legislator to ask for a ceasefire, or participate in one of numerous ways to strike. However you answer that question, we are with you in the spirit of resisting expectations to do it the way it has always been done. And in that spirit, we want to talk about the on-paper version of such expectations...otherwise known as the resume. We have written in the past about resumes, and we have a lot of feelings about them. How they function as a literal example of humans being reduced to a piece of paper, and the many pitfalls inherent in such reduction. We've long been proponents of alternatives to resumes, and we wanted to highlight some beautiful examples from our own employers on GFJ. But before we get to that, can we talk for a minute about gaps? Gaps in resumes, that is. And how they are seen as weaknesses, indicative of a variety of potential uncertainties that make employers feel wary and job seekers more intensely vulnerable than usual. If we're willing to look at alternatives to resumes, we also need to normalize aspects of resumes that have traditionally been sidelined or overlooked. At the very least, a gap in a resume is an opportunity to learn something more about the person you may hire. At best, they may be an example of why this person will be particularly hard working and loyal, as they re-enter the workplace and seek an employer who understands that life happens, and we shouldn't be penalized for it. Now, on to those shiny examples: In the summer of 2021, you might remember we launched an instagram series, "Beyond the Resume," with a roundup of 'questions for an inspired application process. In addition to offering a second round of that series the following year, Illata restaurant in Philadelphia reminds us that they 'hire people, not resumes' - the kind of statement that should be obvious, but gets right to the heart of that reductionism we mentioned earlier. The folks at Stoneberry farm go direct and ask that people apply 'even if you don't have a professional resume' - a wonderful acknowledgement that that status quo is just that, and doesn't represent every individual. Finally, the Millbrook Inn sets a precedent for how questions in the application process can be more illuminating than a template of items that make the eyes glaze over. We're grateful to be connected with each and every one of you. Last week, our newsletter readership reached over 80 thousand people. And in the last few years, our engagement with you all (by one measure, the number of people who open this newsletter) has increased to an astounding 40 to 50 percent. You make us feel stronger when we dare to show up as we are. Thank you for reading, and keep on resisting. In solidarity, Tay + Dor |
tidbits...resources on anti-racism, environmentalism and food culture AKA stuff we're reading / listening to / watching / noticing / thinking about / captivated by this Tuesday . . . |
 |