Post Workplace Bullying: If I could do anything, what would I do?

Belize topography from the air

In a past post, I focussed on what brings me joy in the journey.  What good things can I focus on?

My synopsis?  Flowers, taking photos, writing, creating, taking photos, writing ....  All of these things float my boat.  Or light my fire.  To use cliches.

I ended the post expanding on that theme with a question I've been asking myself for most of this past year:  If I could do anything in the whole wide world post workplace abuse, what would I choose to do?

In other words:  what turns my crank?  Or floats my boat?  Or lights my fire?  (Hey! I like, really like, those cliches.)

The clock tower in Punta Gorda, Belize

Besides photography, writing and creating?

One word:  travel.  I am, and always have been, fascinated by other places.

The market in Punta Gorda, Belize

 I would take my camera and laptop - and maybe my closest friend and ally, hubby, and visit places and people who intrigue me.  I would photograph them and tell their stories.

Putting all three of my most dominant, creative interests together in one career path.  If I could do anything in the world with the skills, interests and talents which I already have - and the equipment such as my camera and laptop - I would liaise with people or groups going on trips to become their group's "official" (non professional event) photographer and blogger.

Punta Gorda sits right on the Carribean

Why?  Because I've always been avidly interested in people, etc.  I'm a people person, which is probably why the bullying I endured in my last two workplaces where I was always deemed deficient in some way or another by people damaged me so badly.

This idea started percolating in my brain as I was thinking of ways of pursuing recovery + a possible writing career + a possible photography career.

I'm not a professional photographer.  Far from it.  But you've got to admit I take a lot of pictures which form a fairly comprehensive view of the experience.

And some of them turn out good.  Really good.  I'm also comprehensive and take lots of pictures of various things from different angles.  I've learned that recording a trip for posterity is not all about the scenic photos, the places, etc.  It's about the people too.  So when I took that trip to Belize last winter with one of my sisters in law to visit others in hubby's family who were already there, eventually I realized that my pictures, my recording of this amazing trip wasn't all about  me.  Far from it.  it was about all of us.  So, I switched my focus from scenery, etc. - although I got lots of those pics too - but started to think of what those I was with would like.  Pictures of them.  Character shots if I could get them.  Pictures of things they would enjoy seeing.  I became known as the "woman with the camera".

All the pictures in today's blog were taken during a trip I made to Belize last February - mandatory camera in tow.

Almond tree

And there were stories we shared.  One of my favorite, shared stories and experiences concerns this tree.  Walking along this road by the Caribbean Sea with my mother in law on my first day in Punta Gorda, she pointed out this tree and told me it was an almond tree.  I'd never seen  an almond tree up close and personal before so I was fascinated - and, of course, took a picture of it.  The next day, I was walking along this same road and came to this same tree with my sister in law who was not with us the previous day and shared with her my newfound knowledge.  There was a man and his family sitting under the tree, so she turned to the man and asked him:  "Sir, what kind of tree is this."  "A shade tree," he solemnly confided.

Although the rest of the pictures in this blog posting perhaps don't have the same shared memory with a close friend or family member, each one tells a piece of the story of the adventure in their own right.

Scenes I've never seen before - and may well never see again.  Scenes that stirred something in me.  Such as this picture of tranquility by the Caribbean.

Or this shack which we walked by each time we went to visit my sister in law who was down there for the winter. It looks unliveable - especially to the Western mind.  However, we actually saw someone resting underneath it one day.  Who waved to us as we passed by.

And then there's this truck - which I assume is not in use any more.  However, in a place like Belize, you never really know, do you?  I was fascinated by it's derelict condition and the vines growing in it and through it.  I'd never seen anything like it before in all my travels.

There's the main street of the town where my sister in law and I had quite a bonding adventure and experience.

The restaurant that looks like nothing more than a shack but has delicious food inside.  Also a dock where we met the boat which took us on a memorable trip to an island in the Caribbean.

And lastly, being able to indulge my passion for photographing birds - especially pelicans - of which there was an abundance there but none here in the northern inland locale I live in.

Memories.  These pictures, this blog posting, are steeped in memories of an experience, a good experience on the road to recovery.  A shared experience.

These pictures are not all about me.  They're about all of us who were part of that shared experience.

These are just a small taste of the pictures I took during that trip.  Pictures which have taken on a life of their own in a sense as I gave them to the others in our group electronically and they have been shared with others.

Pictures which bring back, not just for me, but for all of us, the essence of that experience.

If I could do anything, this is what I would do.  Travel.  Take pictures.  Blog about the experience.  And, most importantly of all, share it with others.

Until tomorrow....