Library of Lily (lol)

A collection of books, references, and other useful things.

[canthinkofaurl-deactivated20221]

YA books about POC by POC #ownvoices

 for the people who keep telling me they cant find diverse #ownvoices books by people of color or that there are none. 

contemporary + romance

- asian authors -

born confused - tanuja desai hidier

girl in between - pintip dunn

i believe in a thing called love - maurene goo

enter title here - rahul kanakia

if you could be mine - sara farizan

its not like its a secret - misa sugiura

my so-called bollywood life - nisha sharma

none of the above - i.w. gregorio

since you asked - maurene goo

starfish - akemi dawn bowman

tell me again how a crush should feel - sara farizan

this promise i will keep - aisha saeed

to all the boys ive loved before - jenny han

qala academy - tanaz bhatena

when dimple met rishi - sandhya menon

written in the stars - aisha saeed

tiny pretty things - sona charaipotra & dhonielle clayton

- black and african authors -

all american boys - jason reynolds & brendan kiely

allegedly - tiffany d. jackson

american street - ibi zoboi

the boy in the black suit - jason reynolds

dear martin - nic stone

the hate u give - angie thomas

little & lion - brandy colbert

peas and carrots - tanita s. davis

the sun is also a star - nicola yoon

this side of home - renée watson

tiny pretty things - sona charaipotra & dhonielle clayton

pointe - brandy colbert

when i was the greatest - jason reynolds

you dont know me but i know you - rebecca barrow

- latinx authors -

the education of margot sanchez - lilliam rivera

the inexplicable logic of my life - benjamin alire sáenz

juliet takes a breath - gabbi rivera

north of happy - adi alsaid

we were here - matt de la pena

when reason breaks - cindy l. rodriguez

yaqui delgado wants to kick your ass - meg medina

high fantasy + urban fantasy

- asian authors -

the bone witch - rin chupeco 

the forbidden wish - jessica khoury

forest of a thousand lantern by julie c. dao

huntress - malinda lo

not your sidekick - c.b. lee

prophecy - ellen oh

the reader - traci chee

serpentine - cindy pon

silver phoenix - cindy pon

soulmated - shaila patel

the star-touched queen - roshani chokshi

- black and african authors -

akata witch - nnedi okorafor

promise of shadows - justina ireland

shadowsharper - daniel josé older

- latinx authors -

labyrinth lost - zoraida córdova

shadowsharper - daniel josé older

historical + historical fantasy

- asian authors -

an ember in the ashes - sabaa tahir

everything i never told you - celeste ng

outrun the moon - stacey lee

under a painted sky - stacey lee

- latinx authors -

burn baby burn - meg medina

iron cast - destiny soria

shame the stars - guadalupe garcia mccall

magical realism

- black and african authors -

into white - randi pink

- latinx authors -

the girl who could silence the wind - meg medina

summer of the mariposas - guadalupe garcia mccall

the weight of feathers - anna-marie mclemore

wild beauty - anna-marie mclemore

when the moon was ours - anna-marie mclemore

sci-fi

- asian authors - 

forget tomorrow - pintip dunn

the amaterasu project - axie oh

the girl from everywhere - heidi heilig

want - cindy pon

- black and african authors -

binti - nnedi okorafor

the blazing star - imani josey

the fifth season - n.k. jemisin

love is the drug - alaya dawn johnson

orleans - sherri l. smith

is that enough? they’re out there. you just have to be willing to look.

All Book Recommendations | My Book Blog 

[libraryoflily]

Hey guys! For the month of December, I am offering free shipping within the U.S. for everything in my Etsy shop: LibraryOfLily

Everything in my shop is available as an applique (to sew onto things), a charm, a clip, or clip-on earrings. If you don’t see what you want, I also take custom orders.

[libraryoflily]

Finally released a new video! This on about the pansexual flag and the relationship between the pan and bi communities. It’s based on a post I wrote on the same topic: http://libraryoflily.tumblr.com/post/177848990481/image-description-two-crochet-ily-handshapes-in

[libraryoflily]

[image description: two crochet ILY handshapes in the pan flag colors]

These tactile crochet ILY charms can be bought on my Etsy shop: LibraryOfLily. 10% of profits gets split between the National Center on Deafness and CSUN’s Pride Center.

Pansexuality is defined as attraction to all genders or attraction regardless of gender. While the word “pansexual” has existed since the 1920s (originally used to refer to “pansexualism”, a Freudian theory of psychology that states all human behavior and desire is primarily linked to and driven by sexual instincts), it came into common use as a word for sexuality in the early 2000s. The flag was created in 2011 by Tumblr user @justjasper - the colors representing attraction to women (pink), attraction to men (blue), and attraction to non-binary genders (yellow).

With the rise of pansexuality have also come a lot of misconceptions and conflict regarding and between the pansexual and bisexual communities. For example, many people mistakenly believe that bisexuality is transphobic and that pansexuality is the natural politically correct version of it. This is because bisexuality has traditionally been defined as attraction to both men and women (which is also reflected in the bisexual flag with its colors originally representing same-sex attraction, opposite-sex attraction, and attraction to both). However, as the queer community has changed and adjusted to different genders becoming more accepted, the bisexual community has also adjusted. Now, bisexuality is most commonly defined as attraction to two or more genders or attraction to your own gender and at least one other.

In addition to that issue (and also in response to that issue), some in the bi community believe that the rise of pansexuality is an attempt to erase and phase out bisexuality. It goes the other way around with some in the pan community believing that this belief is pan erasure.

The reality is pansexuality is not an attempt to create a more politically correct identity and the vast majority of the bisexual and pansexual communities coexist peacefully and supportively with many in the pan community considering themselves to be either a sub-community under bisexuality or a sister community that has come out of the bisexual community. People may identify as pansexual for a variety of reasons. Some people do feel that pansexuality is more politically correct and therefore choose the identity. Some people simply don’t find gender to be important to the way they experience sexual attraction and feel that the identity and community fully embraces that experience. Some people choose to identify as pansexual to avoid the stigma attached to bisexuality (because pansexuality is newer and has fewer pervasive stigmas at the moment).

Pansexuality primarily differs from bisexuality based on the importance of gender in their ideologies and definitions, which is reflected in their flags. Bisexuality places more emphasis on gender having a role in their sexual attraction, which is reflected in their flag which represents (put in the modern definition terms) attraction to the same gender, attraction to a different gender, and attraction to both. Pansexuality downplays gender as playing a role in the way they experience sexual attraction with their flag representing all the different possible genders one could be attracted to.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pansexual_pride_flag https://mashable.com/2014/06/13/lgbt-pride-symbols/#veaKGiew8gq1 https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/pansexuality http://clarebayley.com/2013/06/a-field-guide-to-pride-flags/ https://www.stop-homophobia.com/pansexuality.htm http://www.differencebetween.net/science/nature/difference-between-bi-sexual-and-pan-sexual/ http://justjasper.tumblr.com/post/42971325095/confession-time

[libraryoflily]

[image description: two crochet ILY handshapes in the bi flag colors]

These tactile crochet ILY charms can be bought on my Etsy shop: LibraryOfLily. 10% of profits gets split between the National Center on Deafness and CSUN’s Pride Center.

The bisexual flag was created in 1998 by Michael Page. At the time, there were a few bisexual symbols, but none of them were instantly recognizable. In addition to that, the existing recognizable gay and lesbian symbols were difficult for most bi people to connect with because they were primarily for gay and lesbian people (even though some of them had also been adopted as umbrella symbols). Inspired by the rainbow flag, Page decided to create a bisexual flag.

Page designed the bisexual flag based on the bi angles: a pink triangle and a blue triangle overlapping to create purple (a symbol which is not commonly used due to the pink triangle’s connection to the holocaust). The ratio between the colors is 2:1:2 - 40% pink, 20% purple, 40% blue. (The exact specs can be found on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisexual_pride_flag).

The pink represents attraction to the same sex, the blue represents attraction to the “opposite” sex, and the purple represents attraction to both. The purple is often difficult to see in the flag as well as in my ILY design intentionally - blending in with the pink and blue colors “...just as in the 'real world' where most bi people blend unnoticeably into both the gay/lesbian and straight communities.” (Page, biflag.com)

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisexual_pride_flag https://www.algbtical.org/2A%20SYMBOLS.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20120204070907/http://www.biflag.com/Activism.asp

[libraryoflily]

“Ich” und “Du,” “Ihr” und “Sie”

I

In German, the word for “I” is “ich”. Unlike English which capitalizes “I” no matter what, “ich” is not capitalized unless it’s the first word of a sentence.

YOU

There are several words for “you” in German.

du-----informal singular ihr-----informal plural

Du and ihr are used with friends and family. This book doesn’t elaborate on that at all, but I’m pretty sure formality is more complex than that since cultural norms like politeness usually are. BUT I don’t know the subtleties of German social norms around politeness, so this is what I have to work with for now.

Sie-----formal singular AND plural

Sie is both singular and plural and is the way you address someone in a more formal situation. You use it when you’re addressing people you don’t know or someone who is higher in social ranking than you (like your boss, teacher, or if you’re a child, adults). I don’t know for sure but most likely if you work with people, customers and clients should also be addressed with Sie. Use it any time a situation calls for a high level of respect. It’s also always capitalized no matter where it occurs in a sentence.

SOURCES Graves, P. (2004). Learn German the fast and fun way. 3rd ed. Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s.

[libraryoflily]

Ein, eine, ein

In addition to definite articles (der, die und das), indefinite articles also have gender.

ein------a/an, masculine AND neuter eine-----a/an, feminine

FEMININE NOUNS

eine Mutter--------a mother eine Freundin-----a girlfriend

Fun fact: German doesn’t make a distinction between a friend who is a girl and a girlfriend. This can lead to confusion particularly if you’re gay as being a girl and saying “Ich habe eine Freundin” doesn’t make it clear that you’re gay and that the person you’re talking about is actually your girlfriend. On the bright side, declaring that you have eine Freundin might not out you! A little internet research on alternate words for a significant other has brought me the word Schatz which means “sweetheart” and is the same in the masculine and feminine. There’s also the word Liebensfreundin which makes it pretty clear the relationship isn’t platonic. So if you introduce your Freundin and the response is “It’s nice that you have friends” try clarifying by calling her your Schatz or Liebensfreundin.

NEUTER NOUNS

ein Auto-----------a car ein Mädchen-----a girl

MASCULINE NOUNS

ein Onkel-------an uncle ein Freund-----a boyfriend ein Student-----a student ein Baum-------a tree ein Junge-------a boy ein Vater--------a father

SOURCES

Graves, P. (2004). Learn German the fast and fun way. 3rd ed. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's.

https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/5028/what-is-the-equivalent-of-boyfriend-in-german

[libraryoflily]

Ein Gespräch anfangen

So, when I was at the library last week looking for a messenger clerk job (I didn’t find one), I found this German language learning book called Learn German: The Fast and Fun Way. It’ll take too long to get through while I’m borrowing the book, but I’m making a Memrise course for it and copying the exercises in the book so that I can work through it at my own pace.

I’ve been live tweeting about the interesting things I’ve been encountering on my Twitter @LibraryofLily, but it occurred to me that writing blog posts with more details as I go along would be cool as well.

The first chapter focuses on starting conversations.

Ein Gespräch----------------A conversation anfangen---------------------to start

Throughout the book there are dialogues with the key sentences and phrases highlighted. The first dialogue is about a family looking for their luggage at the airport, so some of the highlighted dialogue involves airport vocabulary.

Guten Tag.-----Hello.

Guten Tag literally means “good day”. While “Good day” is a greeting in English, the phrase “Guten Tag” may not be used only in the same situations that “good day” would be used in. Words and phrases so closely connected with social situations and social norms often don’t translate smoothly.

Ihr Name, bitte?---------Your name, please? Mein Name ist...---------My name is... Ihre Flugnummer?-----Your flight number?

A lot of people also marvel at German’s compound words. The rule of thumb seems to be if you can compound something, compound it. (That’s really a simplistic way of looking at it, but in general it seems to work like that.) It seems really complicated, but it’s easier to understand if you think of it a little differently. Imagine instead of separating English noun phrases into separate words, you just pronounced them like one word. So the word “English noun phrases” would just turn into “Englishnounphrases”.

In fact, spoken English does this kind of thing all the time! Many English nouns and verbs that are spelled with two or more words are actually pronounced as a single word (such as “messenger clerk” and “language learning” and “live tweet”). In Linguistics, these are known as phonological words and are defined based on their pronunciation. What is a word and what isn’t is not nearly as clear as you might think and depends entirely on what criteria you use. Something that is a phonological word may not be a word based on orthographic criteria (how it’s written down).

Wie geht’s?-----How are you?

I usually see this translated as “What’s up?” but this book translates this as “How are you?”

Mir geht’s gut.---------------------I’m OK. Nett, Sie kennenzulernen.-----Nice to meet you. Danke.--------------------------------Thanks. Bitte.----------------------------------You’re welcome.

SOURCES Graves, P. (2004). Learn German the fast and fun way. 3rd ed. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's.

[libraryoflily]

Leute und Dinge

Leute-----people und--------and Dinge-----things

So there are a few major things you need to learn about German nouns.

1. German nouns are ALWAYS capitalized no matter where they are in a sentence or what they’re referring to.

2. German has three grammatical genders: masculine (der), feminine (die), and neuter (das). There are patterns to what nouns get which gender, but it’s like trying to memorize the patterns in English spelling. There are so many exceptions you might as well just memorize everything.

If you’re nonbinary and are excited that German has a neuter grammatical gender, don’t be. It’s typically not for people and in most cases, using it for people is like calling someone “it”. Which kind of makes me wonder about people’s attitudes towards children (das Kind) and girls (das Mädchen). I have no idea how German nonbinary people deal with grammatical gender in reference to themselves and their own identities. If you’re reading this and you’re German and identify as nonbinary, please tell me what you do!

3. German has a ton of ways to pluralize nouns. I’ve counted 8 so far. Like with grammatical gender, there are patterns but it’s most likely easier to just memorize them with each new noun you learn. This book stresses that you should learn the plural with every new noun and then proceeds to not provide the plurals to pretty much any new noun introduced beyond the second chapter...

So for noun vocabulary, I’m going to organize it by grammatical gender AND by pluralization so that any patterns that are there can be seen more easily.

MASCULINE

No Change der Kugelschreiber-----ballpoint pen-----die Kugenschreiber

Add -n der Junge-----boy-----die Jungen

Add umlaut der Apfel-----apple-----die Äpfel der Vater-----father-----die Väter

Add umlaut + -e der Fuß-----foot-----die Füße

FEMININE

Add -n die Katze------cat--------die Katzen die Blume-----flower-----die Blumen

Add umlaut die Mutter-----mother-----die Mütter

NEUTER

No Change das Mädchen-----girl-----die Mädchen

Add -s das Auto-----car-----die Autos

Add -e das Arbeitsheft-----workbook-----die Arbeitshefte

Add umlaut + -er das Haus-----house-----die Häuser

SOURCES Graves, P. (2004). Learn German the fast and fun way. 3rd ed. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's.

[libraryoflily]

Tiny Tactile Crochet Flower Charm

These tiny pink flowers were originally a gift I made for my mother for Christmas as a small chain of pink flowers that she can tie into her hair. Later, my friend and roommate wanted one to wear as a bracelet. Now, Im offering them here in my shop in a variety of forms. Each of these

I just added tiny crochet flower charms to my Etsy shop~

10% of the money earned from my shop gets split between the National Center on Deafness (NCOD) and CSUN’s Pride Center.

[libraryoflily]

[image description: two crochet ILY handshapes in the lesbian flag colors]

These tactile crochet ILY charms can be bought on my Etsy shop: LibraryOfLily. 10% of profits gets split between the National Center on Deafness and CSUN’s Pride Center. 

The lesbian flag was originally used specifically for the lipstick lesbian community, but was later adopted by lesbians in general.

Lipstick lesbians are lesbians that present in a more conventionally feminine manner (though they often are hyper-feminine). Because of this, many of them are not believed by straight people and gay people alike when they say they’re lesbians. The term is also used for bisexual women who present in a feminine manner and prefer women over other genders.

The lipstick lesbian flag was originally created in 2010 by thislesbianlife (on Wordpress) and posted on her blog. In addition to the gradient of pink stripes, it features a lipstick print in the upper left corner of the flag. The woman who created it was frustrated that lesbians (lipstick lesbians in particular) didn’t have their own flag while every variety of male gay people seemed to each have their own flag! So she created a flag specifically for lipstick lesbians.

Because lesbians in general don't have their own flag, many people have also adopted this flag (but without the lipstick print) as flag for lesbians in general.

Sources: http://clarebayley.com/2013/06/a-field-guide-to-pride-flags/ https://thislesbianlife.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/lipstick-lesbian-pride/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipstick_lesbian http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LipstickLesbian

[libraryoflily]

[image description: two crochet ILY handshapes in the rainbow pride flag colors]

These tactile crochet ILY charms can be bought on my Etsy shop: LibraryOfLily. 10% of profits gets split between the National Center on Deafness and CSUN’s Pride Center.

So, I actually worked really hard on the product descriptions for my ILY charms, so I’m gonna expand on them a bit throughout Pride Month! Starting with my Gay Pride Charms.

The rainbow flag represents gay people and also the queer/LGBT+ community as a whole. It was commissioned along with another flag by the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade committee and created by a team of volunteers led by Gilbert Baker (who is typically credited as the sole creator of the flag), Angelino Lynn Segerblom, and James McNamara.

They hand dyed strips of fabric and sewed them together into two massive flags: the first was a rainbow flag with 8 colors - pink, red, orange, yellow, green, aqua blue, indigo, violet - and the second was also rainbow with the colors reversed (violet on top and pink on bottom) and stars in the corner (like the American flag but the starts were in circles). Baker assigned meanings to the colors: pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, aqua blue for art and magic, indigo for serenity, and violet for spirit.

Later, the pink was dropped and the blues were combined into one royal blue. The actual reasons for this aren’t known, but there are a few different stories floating around such as lack of availability of pink fabric and dye and lamp poles obscuring the center stripe (after the pink had been dropped) so that the flag needed to have 6 colors instead of 7 to be fully seen when hung vertically on lamp posts. Another story says that during a parade, there was an idea to split the flag into two but they needed an even number of colors for it so they got rid of the aqua blue.

Sources: http://www.losangelesblade.com/2018/03/02/woman-behind-rainbow-flag/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_flag_(LGBT_movement)

[libraryoflily]

Happy Pride Month everyone! To celebrate the month, I designed and made these cute pride ILY (I Love You) ASL handshape charms! They come as appliques to sew or pin onto things, charms to clip to jewelry, clips to clip onto whatever else you want to clip them to (backpacks, purses, etc.), or clip-on earrings. I am selling them in my Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LibraryOfLily

If you’d like one but don’t see your identity represented or if you want other color patterns, I take custom orders!

Also, check out the product descriptions because I put a lot of thought into each of them.

10% of profits from everything in my shop gets split between the National Center on Deafness and CSUN’s Pride Center.

[libraryoflily]

Self-Inventory Flower

So I’ve completely finished making my guide to the self-inventory flower found in Richard Bolle’s book What Color Is Your Parachute? I’m almost finished making my flower, myself, so here is a complete list of all the posts I made for this project.

1. Introduction to the Self-Inventory Flower An explanation of what the self-inventory flower is and what it’s for.

2. PEOPLE - Worksheet 1: The Hexagon Party A cute little personality quiz for identifying the types of people you tend to get along with, if personality quizzes are your thing.

3. PEOPLE - Worksheet 2: Energy Drainers vs. Energy Creators To identify the qualities of people you function best around in the workplace. If you know this ahead of time, you can take someone out to coffee who works at the place you want to apply to and interview them about their coworkers so you’ll have a good idea of whether working there will be satisfying or whether it will be Hell. This is especially important to those who have limited energy or introverts who just get drained socializing. Knowing this information ahead of time can prevent burn-out by stopping you from accepting a job at a place that SOUNDS great but that has coworkers that are incompatible with you personally.

4. WORKPLACE To identify the work environment that has the least amount of barriers to you getting your job done. This is especially helpful to those with disabilities because if you are aware of what your ideal environment is, you can find a workplace that you need few if any accommodations. In that workplace, you will be happiest, be most likely to be accepted for the job (since you don’t need major accommodations), and will do your best work on par with your non-disabled coworkers (due to lack of barriers). In order to find out this information about a workplace, visit it and ask someone who works there if you can take them out to coffee so you can interview them about their workplace.

5. SKILLS - Transferable Skills vs. Knowledge vs. Self-Management Skills An explanation of the difference between the different types of skills and why this distinction is important in the context of job-hunting.

6. SKILLS - Worksheet To identify your transferable skills and self-management skills. These skills are what defines the specific job you will be able to function best in. Having knowledge of them will help you search for a job you’ll like and that won’t burn you out and will also give you an advantage over others in any interview, since you’ll know exactly what your best skills are and exactly how to explain them.

7. KNOWLEDGES - Worksheet 1: Q&A A set of prompts for you to write about things you’re interested in though you may not have a lot of knowledge in. This can help you pick a major in college or know which areas you need additional education in if you’re passionate about something you don’t have enough knowledge about.

8. KNOWLEDGES - Worksheet 2: The Fisherman’s Net To cast as wide a net as possible by listing everything you’ve ever learned from past jobs, volunteer work, experience, friends, parents, school, etc. If you still remember it, it goes on the list.

9. KNOWLEDGES - Worksheet 3: Your Favorite Subjects Matrix To narrow down everything you’ve ever learned in your entire life that you still remember as well as all your interests regardless of your current knowledge level down to only 10 of your favorite knowledge sets and/or interests. The list of knowledge sets usually points to a field rather than a specific job - you’ll want to look for a job or a major in a field that matches the knowledge sets you either already have or are very passionate about.

10. PURPOSE - Worksheet 1: The Nine Spheres of Purpose To figure out what your personal mission in life is which will help guide you in making tough decisions and figuring out which workplaces’ mission statements also match your personal mission statements.

11. PURPOSE - Worksheet 2: Philosophy of Life Essay To work out what beliefs and morals are most important to you so that you can better identify workplaces that will match you. By the end of the exercise, you should have written enough things on this topic to be able to figure out either a mission statement or a short list of mission statements (for me, everything in my essays and writings was able to be summarized into 9 mission statements all of which I wrote onto my flower after I prioritized them).

12. SALARY - Worksheet 1: A Budget To work out a budget for the money you currently have as well as figuring out what, exactly, your current cost of living is as well as what income you would need to survive AND be comfortable. (This will be represented as a salary range starting from the minimum you need to survive and going up to a maximum of the amount you need to live comfortably or an amount you think you could get if you have a REALLY generous employer - it should ultimately be something you think you could either get now if you play your cards right or work up to realistically.)

13. SALARY - Worksheet 2: Non-Monetary Benefits To identify what benefits in a job other than money you would like such as level of responsibility in your job and other things.

14. GEOGRAPHY To figure out what kind of place you prefer to live and what specific cities or towns or whatever satisfies your preferences so you can recognize opportunities to relocate when you get them.

[libraryoflily]

Self-Inventory Flower 14: GEOGRAPHY

Part 1          Part 6           Part 11 Part 2          Part 7           Part 12 Part 3          Part 8           Part 13 Part 4          Part 9 Part 5          Part 10

The geography petal is possibly one that you don’t need right this moment in order to get a job, but the idea here is to describe your ideal place to live so that you have an idea in your mind of what that is. This way, if you ever get the opportunity to relocate to your favorite place, you will be able to recognize the opportunity and not let it pass you by. If you have a partner or spouse, you should work together on this so you’ll agree on a location that suits you both.

Make a chart with 5 columns. If you’re doing this with a partner, make 8 columns.

COLUMN 1: List all the places you’ve ever lived.

COLUMN 2: List all the things you disliked about them.

COLUMN 3: List the opposite of each item in column 2 as well as anything else that you did like about the past places you’ve lived.

COLUMN 4: Use a prioritizing grid to prioritize all the items in column 3.

SHOW AND TELL: On a new sheet of paper, write down your top 10 factors. For 10 days, show this list to every person you meet and ask them if they know any places that have at least the top few items on the list (but preferably all of them, if at all possible). On the paper, write down ALL of their suggestions. When the 10 days are over, circle the three most interesting-looking places.

COLUMN 5: Look up the most interesting places on the previous sheet of paper and figure out which are your top 3 favorites. If you’re doing this alone, write these three as well as your top 5 geological factors on your GEOGRAPHY petal. If you’re doing this with a partner, skip to column 6.

COLUMN 6: Copy your partner’s column 4 onto your column 6 and use a different numbering system (for example, if you used 1. 2. 3...., use a. b. c.... for your partner’s list).

COLUMN 7: Copy both your list and your partner’s list into column 7 - alternating between yours and your partner’s items.

SHOW AND TELL: Take the top 10 items from column 7 and write them on a separate sheet of paper. Then show this list to everyone you meet for 10 days asking them if this list reminds them of any places. Then write down every single suggestion. At the end of the 10 days, get together with your partner and look through the suggestions each of you got and decide on which places seem interesting to BOTH of you.

COLUMN 8: Take the three top favorite places you and your partner picked and put it on your flower as well as your top 5 geological factors.

Congratulations! You’re completely done with your flower! Now you know more about yourself and can use it to help guide you into finding a job or in other areas of your life.

[libraryoflily]

Self-Inventory Flower Part 13: SALARY - Worksheet 2: Non-Monetary Benefits

Part 1          Part 6          Part 11 Part 2          Part 7          Part 12 Part 3          Part 8 Part 4          Part 9 Part 5          Part 10

In addition to money, there are non-monetary benefits that jobs can offer. For some people, the money might be more important but for others, they are willing to accept a lower-paying job for one that includes certain non-monetary benefits. This worksheet will help you figure out what those benefits for you are.

1. Decide what level of responsibility you would like to have in your ideal job - discuss this with family and friends, if you like. Do you want to work alone? As part of a team? As a manager or the head of a team? Do you want to be the boss (you may have to start a business for that or plan WAY ahead)? Write down your preferences.

2. Look at the following list and write down anything on it that’s important to you - if there is a benefit not included that is also important to you, write that down too: - Adventure - Challenge - Respect - Influence - Popularity - Fame - Power - Intellectual stimulation - A chance to be creative - A chance to exercise leadership - A chance to make decisions - A chance to use your expertise

3. Write down your salary range, level of responsibility, and the rest of your non-monetary benefits in a list and prioritize them. Then write them all down on your petal.

Next post: GEOGRAPHY

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Self-Inventory Flower Part 12: SALARY - Worksheet 1: A Budget

Part 1          Part 6          Part 11 Part 2          Part 7 Part 3          Part 8 Part 4          Part 9 Part 5          Part 10

Some people like to say that money isn’t important, but the only people who can comfortably claim that are people who are rich and people who are in denial. In a capitalist society like the U.S. (where I am), money is extremely important for health and happiness. According to Richard Bolles (In What Color is Your Parachute?), a 2010 study showed that the less money people made, the less happy they tended to be and the more money they made the more happy they tended to be. This trend continues up until about $75k a year at which point money no longer increases happiness (in fact, people making more than that reported decreased time and ability to do what they actually enjoyed) - but it did increase satisfaction. Of course, it isn’t the money, itself, that increases happiness. It’s the ability to be independent, to take care of your loved ones, to pursue your interests, and to take care of your health - all of which cost money.

The purpose of this petal is to figure out a range of what you feel like you can realistically make at a job (or what you need) and also to identify your preferred level of responsibility in a job and any non-monetary benefits you’re looking for in a job. This particular exercise focuses on how much money you’ll need to make in order to take care of your basic needs (which will be the minimum on your salary range).

1. Set up or find a budget worksheet that will work well for you. Budgetworksheets.org has some good templates to work with that you can add or take away items in.

2. (optional) Make a budget for the money you CURRENTLY have and also fill in the chart for how you managed your money last month to see where you’ve been spending your money.

3. Make a budget for ALL your expenses regardless of whether or not you, yourself, are currently paying for them. Remember to include things like entertainment and budget for anything you tend to overspend on (allowing yourself a little money for those things can help you not overspend - but saying “I’ll stop buying this thing I like to buy” is setting yourself up for failure).

4. Multiply that monthly number by 12 to get a yearly figure and divide that by 12,000 to get an hourly figure. This is the minimum amount of money you need to be financially independent and is the minimum you should be asking for when negotiating a salary (unless you’re desperate and aren’t in a position to spend the time looking for a job that will pay you what you deserve - in which case still make note of it and try to quietly keep looking while you’re working at the job that underpays you).

5. Write whatever number is most useful to you in your SALARY petal - write both the minimum you came up with AND a maximum (the maximum can be either an optimistic but realistic estimation of how much you think you could get if you find a really generous employer OR how much you’d like to be earning in 5 years).

Next post: SALARY - Worksheet 2: Non-Monetary Benefits