I have so much work to do, but I just had the most perfect day, so I wanted to share. But before I get into that, I suppose I should explain a bit about why I’m here.
I’m staying in NYC this week in order to train on some software for my “real” job, the job that actually pays me money. You see, this little venture that David and I are undertaking—producing a Catholic travel show—is 98% self-funded, so in order to pay for all of our equipment and other expenses, we both have “9 to 5” jobs. This could explain why it’s taken us 5 years to even come close to getting on the air. Of course, we were learning during that time, and I think God really wanted us to get through some hurdles first. But the entire time we have been, and will continue to, produce The Faithful Traveler, we have both been working full-time jobs. Since we both met at a publishing job in New York, we both continue to work in publishing—me on the editorial side, and David on the marketing side.
If you do a search on my name online, you will get a good sense of some of the books I worked on, especially in the most recent years. I’ve done it all—kid’s non-fiction, adult general reference, cookbooks, legal books, graphic design books, Catholic newspapers, and various and sundry topics. After studying to be a lawyer at Notre Dame, I practiced for a year and decided that the law was not for me, so I packed my bags and headed to NYC to start a career in publishing. And the rest, as they say, is my petite history. I’ve been an editor for more than 10 years now, and I think I’m pretty good at it. I enjoy it—no matter what the topic is—as long as the writing isn’t painfully bad, which it can be sometimes. But it’s a good fit for an English major and word lover. I almost called myself a wordsmith, but I don’t think that highly of my writing to say that. In fact, in my entire career as an editor, I never really cared about getting published myself. I love Tolkien and the worlds that he has created, and since I can never do anything close to that, I never had the desire to do so! (I’m sure that’s silly reasoning, but there it is.) The funny thing is, now I write all my scripts, and while I don’t consider myself a “writer”, I would have to say I’m quite proud of my scripts. But, then, I blame that entirely on the Holy Spirit. He is too good to me. And I think my Guardian Angel whispers in my ear a lot, too. I do love him.
Anyway, so I’m here in NYC to train on some software for a new job that I just got not too long ago, I think, as a result of a novena to St. Joseph. Here’s how it went down, and you tell me he wasn’t responsible.
For four years, I worked as a cookbook editor at a small publishing house here in Philadelphia. It was great work—the books were beautiful, the topic was very interesting (although I did get sick of food), and I really got into it. I was managing photo shoots, sometimes even cooking food for them (they call it “food styling”). I enjoyed it. But after a while, it got to the point that I was working all the time—nights, weekends. It was hard work, and very draining. And I had no time to work on the show, which was disappointing. So I found another job not too long ago that gave me back my nights and weekends. I was there for about 8 months before I got laid off. This is what I posted about on March 7th, when I posted Trusting in God’s Will.
I was very happy to be laid off. I had just begun to worry that I was running out of vacation time, and yet I still had so many locations to shoot. I didn’t know how I was going to do it! And then, I had all the time in the world, and unemployment, to boot. I got SO MUCH done during those three months.
But I had to be the responsible spouse/adult, and actually get another job. The show, my law school loans, and everyday bills were just too much for one salary. I began to pray the novena to St. Joseph the Worker, right before May 1st. I prayed it every night, and while my ideal is to work on the show full-time, I just prayed that God would lead me to what God wanted me to do. If He wanted me to work, so be it. If He wanted me to work on the show full-time, so be it. Whatever He wants.
Did I mention that God is good to me?
A few days before the novena ended, I asked a friend and old boss for a reference. She didn’t know that I had been laid off, so it was all news to her. Well, lo and behold, one of her editors had just left, and she needed someone to replace him. Would I take the job, she asked? Working from home?
Unreal. I got the job offer on May 1st, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker.
So, a week or so ago, I began my new job, editing legal books from home (it’s amazing how the language/knowledge stays with you). My new boss/old friend knows all about the show, and so I am free to come and go as necessary. As long as I get my work done, it doesn’t matter when I do it. So now, I have the best of both worlds—a salary that will enable me to pay my bills and fund the show, and a job that is flexible enough to allow me to do whatever I need to do for the show whenever I need to do it.
Again, God is too good to me.
Now, what’s been going on this week. Well, this weekend, Old St Patrick’s Cathedral here in NYC will begin celebrating its 200th anniversary. And I have been working with a few people to create a photographic montage of the history of Old St. Pat’s (OSP), and another of the people of OSP. It’s been tough getting images, but we finally got them, and I was up until 4:30 am tweaking and cleaning and rendering and condensing… It’s amazing how much energy I had last night. The presentation turned out AWESOME, the OSP people are very happy, and all is well. I just have a few additions to make tonight, and then it’ll be done.
So, my day began after only 3.5 hours of sleep. It’s a miracle I woke up at 8, because I could not get to sleep last night. But when my alarm went off, I was wide awake, and went about creating the DVD to deliver to OSP. By 11, I was in a cab on my way to Nolita (North of Little Italy, for all you non-New Yorkers). Everyone loved it. At noon, I was back in a cab, uptown to the job, to train from 1 until 5. At 5, I dropped some stuff off at the hotel (more on that later), and went galavanting around town to get some photos for the show.
You see, in my script for Old St. Patrick’s, I mention that one of the great things about NYC is that there are catholic churches everywhere. And they are. I love it. When I lived here, I had a list of all the churches I loved, with their Mass and confession times. No matter where I was, I knew where a church was nearby. So, I needed to get images of them, for the video. I made a list of my favorites, and added some new ones I hadn’t seen yet, and was off.
First, I walked to 16th and 6th and took a few pix of the outside of St. Francis Xavier. The gates outside looked locked, so I didn’t go inside.
Then, I took the subway uptown to 34th street, and walked to 31st and 7th, where, on opposite sides of 7th Avenue, are two of my favorite churches in the city: St. Francis of Assisi (photographed above) and the Capuchin Monastery Church of St. John. When I first moved to NYC, this is where I spent most of my time, praying for strength. When I got to St. Francis, a priest with a lovely Irish brogue was celebrating the Mass, so I stayed and took Communion. It’s SO beautiful inside this church. I want to go back tomorrow to get some photos of the amazing mosaics inside.
Then, I walked uptown to 49th and 8th, where I found St. Malachy’s “the Actor’s Chapel”. I’d never been, but have wanted to for so long. And—see how good God is to me—when I walked inside, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed in the most glorious monstrance. I stayed and prayed and thanked God. I have to say, it’s getting to the point that I just can’t set foot inside a church without wanting to cry about how insanely good God is. I can’t say it enough. He is too good, and I am seriously grateful.
After that, I walked over to see the closed off section of Broadway that everyone has been talking about—very interesting and odd… I took some pics of the Father Duffy statue at Times Square which, for some reason, I’d never seen, even though I used to work on 46th and 6th Avenue. I went into the Swatch store and fortuitously found and bought some new bands for my favorite Tintin watch that David bought me years ago in Germany (my husband is too good to me, too). Then I walked down to 34th and took the train back downtown to my hotel.
Now, I am staying at the Maritime Hotel, which is right across the street from the job. It’s a lovely little hotel, with a nautical theme, comfy beds, and fabulous smelling toiletries (C.O. Bigelow lavender and peppermint!!). After meeting someone from OSP who was delivering more photos for the presentation, I bought some yummy sounding ice cream—Adirondack Creamery Kulfi Pistachio Cardamom—ok, I just tasted it. YUM! Then, I decided to have dinner at the hotel restaurant.
Oh, how fabulous. Now, eating alone can be weird sometimes, but today it didn’t bother me in the least. I ate at La Bottega (they put my ice cream in the freezer for me) and had such a wonderful experience. First, I ordered a virgin Raspberry Mojito. Oh wow. I have to make these at home. Raspberry puree mixed with club soda, mint, and lime. Perfect summer drink. Then I had a tricolore salad, with goat cheese and candied walnuts that was just the perfect size. And they brought a little circle piece of warm white bread that was just heavenly. And then the main course—pollo al mattone con cipollini e patate: chicken cooked under a brick wit cipollini onions & red potatoes. Not too much food, just the right amount. The chicken was moist and actually had the skin on. I don’t remember the last time I ate chicken skin, but it was fabulous. My waitress was SO nice. I sat near an open door, and had a lovely summer breeze blowing on me. It was heaven.
Again, tears come to my eyes when I think about how good it all is. It’s just too good.
And now, I’m back in my hotel room (ok… the pistachios in the ice cream were mushy… that’s not good, but other than that…) listening to Louis Armstrong sing La Vie en Rose, in my jammies, and thinking I might just go to sleep and get up early tomorrow to finish up the project.
But one last thought before I go. Some people don’t believe that God concerns Himself with the little bits and bobs of our lives—the details. Why does He care if we’ve lost our keys? they ask. Why bother Him with prayers for a parking spot or other random little requests. But I disagree. I think God does care. I think He, like any other parent, just wants to be needed. Wants to be loved. And how can you show someone you love them by never talking to them? It just doesn’t make sense. I call my mom all the time because I love her and she is, I would say, one of my best friends. If I didn’t call her, I wouldn’t be that close to her. I live 3,000 miles away!
I think the same goes for God. He can give us the world. He won’t, because He has something so much better in store for us, but He could if He wanted to. So why wouldn’t He help me find my keys, or a parking spot? Why wouldn’t He give me little gifts like letting me just happen to walk into a beautiful chapel during adoration, or like letting me find my Tintin bands that have been eluding me? Why wouldn’t He help me find the spouse that is perfect for me (and he is), or a job that allows me to live my dream by devoting my life to Him?
God gives us the opportunity to love Him as much as we can. I think it’s up to us to do so. And once we start, it’s impossible to stop.
Buenas noches a todos, signing off from NYC.