Need ideas for my new website

Encouragement from my bloggers to "stay true to who you are" led me to redesign my website. Here is a pencil drawing of the new layout (click on it to enlarge). I want to help people dream through thier career moves by helping with questions like:

1. Who Am I?
2. What's Out There?
3. How do I get there?

I'll still do resumes since that often leads to these three questions above. I just need to come up with a photo idea for the centre to replace the very "corporate" looking photo in my old website.
Any ideas?

Literaly...making a living from a sailboat

One of the bloggers, Danielle, said "why don't you literaly make a living on a sailboat by taking people on the boat for a day or weekend to think through their career dreams". I just stared, like a deer staring at headlights, and after a long pause said "Cool!".
It was successful when I took teenagers on 7-day canoe trips to dream about their futures. There is just something about getting away from the hussel-and-bussel of daily life in order to step back and take a look at your life.
Danielle, who is trained in art therapy, suggesting taking time on the sailboat to read, write, and draw. Again, something I find extremely beneficial as I sit, here, in my sailboat every morning. I think the drawing would be a lot more therapeutic anchored in a cove off Georgiana Island in Lake Simcoe.
Would you spend a day on a sailboat just to get an idea of your work dreams and future?

Sailancer experience

I don't think I'll use Elance for resume writing service. My first online client found it a lot of work setting up an Elance account, confirming partial payments for each resume draft, confirming final funds release to me, and providing feedback. I liked the feedback part, but it was a hassel for the client (the picture is iStockphoto, not the client...although...she looked like this explaining her troubles) . To confirm her identity Elance issued two small refundable credit card charges for her to confirm. Consequently her credit card provider cancelled her credit card since they were suspessions of the mulitple small charges from Elance.
Elance is very good for large projects spanning several weeks or months, but for one-time resume writing I'll just offer a Paypal payment method on my website.

Dying to Change

My Web Designer, Rachelle Maynard, asked me "what does your web site do?". My drawing of dying grass, near the Nottawasaga River, came to mind. I journaled on the drawing:

"I watched, over the months, this grass sprout up, grow, and now die. All parts of God's creation experience cycles. Yet, the river still flows, birds still sing, rains still come. I guess there is a time for everything. I hear the rain coming, God always seem to provide signs of change."

I want my on-line career counselling business to help people who know it's time for a change in their lives. An article titled "How I lost my Bay St. job and found true happiness" is a good example of the people I want to help. They don't have to be "Bay Street" professionals, but, anyone that has a dream.
I beleive it's dreams that keep people motivated for life. How about you?

Niggles out of Fear

I drew this picture of ice stuck in the river's ebb circle since Carole related life to this image. Her reply on March 15th summed up a great observation that we can not ignore the "Niggles" that move us beyond fear. Well, this week I experinced seveal very strong "Niggles" to move on with my dream to make a living from a sailboat.

1. Carole mentioned "I ignored the Niggles to my perile....years can go by"
2. Time spent in nature last weekend confirmed how I need that in my life.
3. Some online clients told me "your help is the energy I need to keep going"
4. Today's Pray As You Go challanged me to face my fears

For the past month I have done nothing to move closer to my work dream. I need to do what I recommend to so many people, to use others to hold yourself accountable. So, I'm going to hold myself accountable to you Bloggers to come up with a new website design by the end of this month.

Connect with Nature

I took some time for photography and sketching during my visit to the Black River. I just love the look of white snow and evergreens back dropped by a blue sky. Laying on a warm rock and just stared at the sky and trees. There is something about being so close to nature, it helps me connect to how God designed me.

I remember my camp counsellor in Agonquin Park say “once you pick up a paddle you’ll never be the same”. It’s true. It's kind of like the connection that the early Celtic people had in 400A.D. They saw God’s design and wisdom in nature….like Jesus said “even the rocks will cry out”. How do you connect with your design?

Break the Fear of Change

Spinning in circles, around and around. That's how ice trapped in an eddie, flows at the bottom of a waterfalls. During my weekend at Black River I could see for three days, from the cottage, the same piece of ice trapped in an eddie. It made me think about life’s routine and how difficult it can be to break out of a safe routine.
Walking down to the edge of the eddie I pushed a log with my foot to see if it would escape ebb circle, but it got pushed back by the force of the river.
I think it takes a strong push for people to break the fear of change. That push can come from the “inside”, a value or need not being met, or "external", by a person or event that makes you wake up. I think my need for solitude and my constant work with people is pushing me to find a different work environment. What kind of pushes have you experienced?

Winter Bla's in a Sailboat.

Nothing much to write about. Still sitting in my boat each morning, drawing pictures, listening to my inspirational Podcasts from Pray-As-Y0u-Go. I am looking forward to this weekend, it's my 25th anniversary.....of a "guys" weekend I do every year with the same guys.
We rent any available cabin up North, eat the food our wives won't let us eat, and take guns to shoot unwanted gifts (it's better than regifting).
It's funny, every year we talk and dream about living in the north...."if only we could earn a living from a cabin". However, the technology to make a living from a sailboat could also be used to make a living from a cabin in the North.
I wonder what stops people from living a dream?

We Don't Have The Power Capt'n!

Typing this blog on my Mac in the sailboat each morning works well since I have enough battery power for the hour, plus I'm close enough to my house to pick up my wireless. However, working from the middle of Lake Simcoe the Mac would last only a few hours. I need more power Scotty!
My sailing magazine explains how to put solar power in a sailboat. It's pretty easy, just hook up a solar panel to a car battery. A laptop can be powered through a simple car adapter. Presto! I'm surfing at warps-speed all day.
I already have a 40 watt panel (that cost about $150) and two batteries for my camper trailer. I just need to mount the panel on the boat hatch and run a wire down to the battery compartment. That would run my laptop all day. However, it I want to run my fridge I would but would be out of power by noon each day. I don't have any more room for another panel. I could put up a wind mill. I saw this neat wind mill that can double as a water generator by dragging behind the boat while sailing. I could alway avoid using the fridge, but, that's the beuaty of working from the boat, it's like a home away from home. I need more power Scotty!

Discovering Terry

This morning's drawing journal made me think of the importance of going with the flow of life, and not pushing back to make is something it's not. I wrote on my drawing:

"It seems that every chapter of life peels another layer from my pretend life, exposing the mystery of God's design in me."

Instead of trying to be something that I am not, or questioning why I am attracted to certain work, I need to go with the strengths of my God-design and figure out how to use these strengths in work.
I can see changing my website to reflex the journey of my work life. Who knows, maybe I will connect with those on or seeking the same journey. Any ideas of what I should include in my website?

Staying True to Myself

Our blog follower, Carole Cotton, critiqued my website and said "I'm surprised not to see a picture of a person with a laptop on a sailboat". After several minutes reviewing my site it was pretty clear the site did not portray who I am.
I guess I wanted to create an image that would appeal to those who could pay for career counselling, and not necessarily those looking for more meaningful careers. This is so strange since I got into career counselling because I was looking for more meaning in my career than what I got from working at a bank.
Carole was right in suggesting that people would be interested in my journey, that they need to see hope for positive change in careers, that it is possible to make a living with a dream....even on a sailboat.
I definantly need to reflect my career dreaming in my website, and stay true to myself. Can anyone relate to this?