March has always been a special month for me. In addition to my daughter being born this month, some very special people celebrate their birthdays this month, both past and present whom I treasure with all my heart. One particular person stands out and it is to her I dedicate this entry although her birthday is only on March 14.
Born in 1906 as Florentina Ángeles Payumo, Floring had a turbulent childhood and family life. At some point, her father walked out on the family and left them to fend for themselves. The children were scattered among relatives or orphanages for a while, which left a lasting trauma and impression on the young Floring. Family history is unclear at what point her mother changed the children’s family name to Ángeles, effectively denying the existence or role of the pater familias. Nobody really questioned any of this, even when she met and married Flávio Castillo in the early 1930s, except for the fact that there was no paper trail left, a detail they my parent uncovered when filing for a visa to Mexico.
Florentina was a survivor, a courageous woman who never shied away from whatever challenges life threw her way. She was extremely frugal but had a way of making ends meet for the family even if it meant unorthodox odd jobs that required her to smuggle money sewed to the petticoat of her skirt! As a young mother during WWII she took on sewing jobs often in exchange for food, and bartered rice for vegetables or fish with the neighbours. During the Japanese occupation of Manila, some families shared shelters and the scarce food, but she made it work for everyone involved.
Mind you, she was a dragon lady and a holy terror, but if there one legacy she has passed on to all of us, never surrender. You are never too old to start something, and it’s never too late, you just have to find the courage and have the faith to see it through.
For those of you who follow the blog regularly, you may have been wondering about the huge gaps in-between posts lately. It’s not as if I didn’t know what to write about, on the contrary, my list of topics keeps growing and will probably keep me busy well into next year. However, after the holidays I battled health issues, finally allowed myself to grieve, and then launched head on into student life to earn my certification as a Life Coach. Once the basic certification was obtained, found myself wanting more, saddled with a deep-seeded need to pursue the Master Life Coach certification. Why the obsession? Well, when I began my work as a development worker in 1991, right after graduating from university, my work consisted of what was then called human resource development. In today’s lingo it translates into coaching, but in those days it was all part of the job, without the need of a fancy title or diploma. I was coaching on emotional intelligence (EQ)and career development long before life coaching even became trendy or it became necessary to have a certification for every possible role you can conceive of today. What drives me mad is that there are so many young life coaches out there running a thriving business but with no life experience to their name. What do you know about parenting, divorce, grief, abandonment, and empty nesting at 30? How can a 28-year old possibly coach a 55 / 65 / 75-year old about re-building after retirement or the loss of a marriage or spouse? Everything they know is textbook, or worse, based on social media and Google, but not intuitive based on personal experience.
As the saying goes, practice what you preach, so here I am, several months after quitting my proverbial 9-to-5 job that I disliked, with nine coaching certifications under my wing effectively validating my 30+ years of life and work experience, and channeling my inner Florentina, unapologetic and unafraid of the road taken. Yes, at 56 I am starting fresh and re-building my world.
The past two weeks have been eventenful for the FrogDiva! It all began when a small new Swiss modeling agency contacted me to be part of their pool of photographers for project within the EU. They are building up a networking of photographers in different countries that they can tap on when a local client requires it. It is still in the early stages, but needless to say I submitted my portfolio and was approved to be one of the Bmodel photographers. Who knew that the determination and work I put in during the pandemic years of lockdown would one day lead to this!
Then I revived my old Picfair store and added new photographs that are now available to purchase as prints or advertising licensing. It’s been mentally exhausting re-editing the photos to meet the standards. Initially it was a blow to my photographer’s ego when half of the first batch was rejected because of small technicalities, but I buckled down and made the necessary corrections and am proud to say that the range of the photos is a pretty good cross section of my portfolio.
Last but not least, today the FrogSpirit Career and Life Coaching website went live and is now open for business. When you browse through it, you will notice that I have chosen a very specific niche and am not catering to all and sundry. The scope of career and life coaching is far too vast and it would be impossible to get a foot in the door if I aimed to cater to everyone just for the sake of earning more. In terms of career path coaching I chose address the needs of the following groups: 1. the High School and University graduates who have no idea what to study or what career they want to embark on. This is the first major decision of their lives that will affect them for the next 25 years at the very least, and if I can help at least one person avoid regretting their decision 10 years down the line, then my job is done. 2. Professionals who have been working for at least five years and realize they are in the wrong job, market, profession, and not pursuing their passions or applying their talents at all. The fear of changing careers can be overwhelming and more often than not, people stick to them because it’s what they know. 3. People who need to re-build their lives after a traumatic event. Ideally, a life coach takes over where therapy ends, but in many cases people are too afraid to go to a therapist in the first place, and end up stuck in a rut. 4. Last but not least, people in their golden years who want to do something new with their lives after retirement or as an empty-nester. I don’t accept the line I’m too old to start something new or even worse, It’s too late. If that were true I wouldn’t be living in the hills of Portugal in the first place!
Enough of the rambling and now to the crux of the matter – the links! I thank you in advance for your visits to the sites and would appreciate it if you shared the them on your social media as well to get the word out! Most questions you may have about the life coaching have been address in the FAQs, but feel free to drop me a line. Remember, it is all work in progress.
FrogDiva Thoughts 