Dear Bob,
I want to thank you for your years of providing uplifting content through the Love Tapes and your books. Recently, I came across an early edition of How to Attract Money. Although it was well used, the topic is of universal interest, so I placed it in my neighbor’s “little library,” and it now has a new owner. I hope he or she enjoys it as much as I did.
Way back in 1988 or so, you and I talked by phone. I had a question about the Love Tape that I’d purchased. I think it was How to find a job or something similar. The exercise it offered was about making three lists, one of which was skills that I have. My question was, were these supposed to be marketable skills. Imagine my surprise when the receptionist put me through to you directly, the creator of the content, company owner, and the “big boss”- -! I was at a low point in my life, though hoping for a better future. Talking with you had a huge impact on my life. Not only did I see that I could accomplish something big, but your advice clarifies how to help myself. Also, your kindness was exactly what I needed to believe in myself at that time. Plus, you sent me two free taps, one for self-esteem (if memory serves) one for making friends/connecting with others. I remember that at that time, you would send out How to Find a Job at no charge to any jobseeker out of work, but since I was working with the tape already (and underemployed rather than unemployed), you sent me two others.
I’m sending you a big big belated thank you now. You caused me to think differently by asking if I’d been low other times in my life and whether that had gotten better. Indeed, though my 1988 problem was job-related, I had survived a disastrous romantic split-up a few years before. You helped me see that though circumstances come and go, and can be survived more easily through analytical thinking, looking ahead, and taking small steps.
Anyway, here’s what happened afterward. Although I never found a career where I climbed to the top, nor was I successful in the self-owned business that I tried, I did discover several niches that I enjoyed. First, as a teaching assistant and tool room manager in the Art Department at Cabrillo Community College, I loved teaching art techniques and supporting the talented and fun art professors. After seven years, I lost the job and moved to a job in AV (what they called Audio-Visual in the 1990s) at the University of California. That was a terrible fit with an oppressive boss, and I got fired – but not before meeting my future husband, who was a Tech there!
After scrounging around with some temp jobs at the university and elsewhere, I landed a graphic artist/editor position in one of the departments where I’d done some temp clerical work—working for the University of California Observatories, including astronomers and astrophysics professors through the UC system. I’d been quite interested in astronomy as a kid, so (although their research was much more advanced and not that comprehensible to me) I quite enjoyed helping astronomers publish their papers, create illustrations, and put together PowerPoint demonstrations for occasional public talks. I visited the Lick Observatory many times and went behind the scenes with the astronomers. I also met post-docs and grad students from all over the world. Plus, I worked on the same campus as my future husband, so we always had lunch together.
However, the best thing about my University of California job was the pension that I’m now enjoying. I retired early, in 2013, because administrative in-fighting caused my position to be downsized, making me a direct assistant to a newly hired boss instead of free to work with the scientists directly as I had been. The pension covers expenses but doesn’t leave much “mad money” as I’d had 15 years with the University. I found a part-time position in the public library system, which I enjoy. I’ve always been an avid reader, but without a Librarian degree had not been qualified for a library position at the University with equivalent salaries to my job.
I was laid off for COVID, which suited me because my husband was working from home, and it was fun to eat lunch together again. The Library called and emailed several times to get me back to work, but I didn’t feel ready until last August, when they welcomed me back at just two days per week, floating between all of the library branches throughout the county. I will be 70 next June, and this schedule is perfect for getting me out of the house a few hours per week, doing something I love. As a “floater,” I’m not involved in the problems of any particular branches and am, in fact, a solution, filling in for absences and public programing staffing needs. So, at my post-retirement, mostly for a fun job, I’ve worked my way up from Library Aide to Library Assistant; without even trying.
Thanks so much for putting me on the right path, Bob! What fun for me to find your book on my shelf, search for you on the internet, and find you are still doing good work. I will never forget talking with you all those years ago, sitting on the floor in my tiny apartment on my pink princess-style phone! I hope you realize how much your work has impacted so many others to improve their lives and cultivate happiness.
.
