Do what you like

A few years before moving to Eureka Springs, I had a typical job as a secretary in a big corporate office. Everyone was overworked, and we were definitely understaffed. You know, with situations like someone in your department quits, and rather than hire someone to fill the position, they just push all their duties on to other people to absorb within the department.

One of the parts that most people dread, especially managers, are the quarterly employee performance evaluations. It's not that we don't enjoy meeting with our managers, getting praise for a job well done, and possibly a raise... It's the lack of time to meet for the evaluation, coupled with rushing through it so everyone can have a turn and feeling like a number, rather than a person.

Fast forward seven years to the present, where I am now working my dream job at the library. Sure, the pay is much less, but when you love your job it truly makes all the difference. My stress level is lower, I am much happier, and I feel like I am contributing to my community. I get to use my quirky organizational skills (obsession!), and my odd knack at remembering names comes in very handy as well.

I guess in conclusion, I would just like to say that if you are unhappy and stressed in a job, it's not worth it. The risk to quit is huge, but things have a way of working themselves out and if you can find what you truly love, and make enough money doing it, you will feel happier and more "on track" with life.

Our previous life

A few years ago, my husband and I were living what I now refer to as "our previous life." We were living what most would consider the American Dream, but we just weren't satisfied. We were working on Bachelor's Degrees in college while both working in the telecom industry. We were very surprised when we worked temporary assignments through a temp agency and both of us were offered full-time jobs without even a college degree. We thought we were so lucky to have "landed" these high paying jobs at such a young age.

I quit my job when I was pregnant with our first child, but my husband stayed on with his corporate job and we were saving money like mad, since he made more than we needed to live on. He continued doing well and climbing the corporate ladder. There was a point about four years into his job when he realized that he was not happy at all. He knew all the ins and outs of telecom, all the engineering gargon like CAT6, CAT5, T1, T2, and patch panels, but didn't feel like he was making a valuable contribution to society.

At that time, we were also living in a very large town and thought maybe it was the town that was getting us down. So we moved to a much smaller town, but he kept the same job. That helped a bit, and we realized that we did enjoy a small town much better, but the job was still a problem. All the corporate politics and threat of layoffs got to be too much and we decided to risk everything, quit the fancy job, and move halfway across the country to a small town we have adored since the first time we visited here.

We are struggling somewhat to make ends meet and our tax return is nothing short of embarrassing, but we are happy and that's what counts. I have a dream job, working in the historic Carnegie public library, and my husband is working on several online ventures. Our children are safe and we know most of the people in town after only living here about two years. Our new life is good.

Exploring the job market

I think it's great when there are job searches geared for a specific area that people can use. I recently looked at a website where users can search for Jobs In California. The site is very simple, and I like that you can search by job category, or by city, and they have the newest job postings listed right on the main page.

One problem I have with the site, however, is I believe they should have spent more time editing the text. Within the main introductory paragraph I counted three grammatical errors. People visiting the site will be searching for future employment and expect a professional looking page. Some work could be done to further this website in that area.

Jobs are popping up all over town!

Now that winter is over and all the businesses in Eureka are up and running for tourist season, there are lots of interesting jobs listed in the Classifieds. Our dilemma is that while we are trying to get our own internet businesses making enough money to support us, there are jobs in town that may be fun and not really feel like "work" that we may enjoy also.

Once we get all the websites up and running, they won't require much maintenance and we will have some free time, but right now, we are still working quite a bit to get all the sites set up. And once my son is in pre-school, I will have lots of time on my hands to sell my paintings, or pick up a part-time job, or whatever. But that's not until August of 2008, so until then, we have to make it on whatever savings we have left and the money we make on the internet.

One problem with small towns...

...is the lack of jobs available to local residents. Since Eureka Springs has a tourist-based economy, many of the hotels, shops, and restaurants are closed for the winter season. This leaves many people scrambling for jobs to make ends meet. Many locals have to work two jobs in the winter and some just can't make it and have to move away.

This is the fate of a good friend of mine and I am very sad about it. This is such a neat place to live and many people come to live here just because they love the town so much. But sometimes a lack of money forces them away from their dreams.

What do you do?

This is the first question most people ask you when they find out you are a local Eurekan. Since this is a tourism-based community, most people start their own business to survive here. Also, it is a huge artist haven. So people seem really interested on how you make your living.

It's quite refreshing to tell someone you are an artist and they are actually impressed and respect you. In other parts of this country, artists are looked down upon and considered to be "slackers" with no real job. The mentality toward artists in Eureka Springs is more typical of Europe than the United States. Another plus for Eureka!