The face of the future

First of all, I'm sorry that your company is losing such a valuable employee. However, these economic times catch people in jobs that have become superfluous to belt-tightening companies so it's not the employees who are missed so much as the company is glad to report reduced costs, no matter what the future circumstances may be. In other words, some layoffs are related to trimming dead wood -- this particular layoff looks more like strategic planning. I ate lunch with with a sales colleague the other day, and from what I gather, the OEM business is going through turmoil at your company right now. Guess you got caught in the crosshairs, to use a well-worn battle analogy.

In any case, wow! You're at a crossroads that I envy. The possibilities, though not endless, seem infinite nonetheless. The variety of skills, interests, resources, and mindsets you've built...I want to change your name to "THE BABEL TOWER OF POWER"! lol

As far as what you can do with what you've got...hmmm...that's an interesting one.

As you and I can clearly see, the global system of trade, quasi-capitalistic (certainly opportunistic, maybe too much so), is headed down a path toward more reductions in payrolls, more bankruptcies and more chaos at the macro- and microeconomic scale as small mom-and-pop businesses feel the pinch while their customers lose jobs at large factories and megacorporations. How far we keep spiraling down, I can't say. I know that I've lived through three recessions (about one per decade), including in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and now the fourth one in the late 2000s. The world hasn't come to an end during any of them. My mother in-law lived through the "Great Depression" while my parents were born during its late heyday in the mid-1930s, and they're still here to talk about economic cycles.

In every case, humans found not only a way to cope but a new way to live. My father in-law went from a life as a teacher/school principal to the life of a government inspector, then a radio DJ and finally the owner of a two-way radio installation/repair shop up until the year or so before he died. My grandfather spent 29 years in the Navy (1929 to 1959), and retired to the leisurely life of a security guard. My wife's aunt ran a florist shop. My great-uncle ran a post office and his wife was the secretary at a doctor's office.

In other words, in the work lives of many of my relatives, government employment helped them through the rough economic times, both during the Great Depression and WWII.

Hopefully, we aren't facing another major world war. What we are facing is a shift of the balance of economic strength from Europe/United States to Asia. China holds large reserves of purchased U.S. treasuries, as well as spent decades converting exported cheaply-manufactured goods into hordes of imported hard currency.

Therefore, on what does our long-term future rest? What, if I were you, would I consider the best place to invest my time and energy to ensure a healthy future for myself and my significant other(s)?

I'll recap your interests here for myself. You said you had reams of stuff ranging from books on business bios to fashion design, poetry, fiction, history, travel and marketing.

You've traveled more widely than I have and have more contacts in the Asian world, I surmise. Thus, I won't assume I know more than you do when it comes to both observing and imagining what the world will be like when Asian influences upon global mass media outshine the U.S.-centric "Western" mass media that we grew up with.

My discussions with Asian friends, employees and coworkers (mainly intellectual ones - I don't think I have a single "rural" Asian friend) has shown me that what I read in my youth about Indian and Chinese cultures incorporating other cultures as they travel, rather than overrunning them as Western culture tends to do, will reflect a future past replete with Western tones.

So, sitting here in my comfortable study, looking out the window where I can see wild Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) growing in the ditch of my wooded wild yard, populated with other non-native species like nandina (Nandina domestica), vinca (Vinca major), daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus), Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum) and untold others, I know that this planet is getting tinier every day.

If I were you, I'd study the next wave of human development, where the language of global business, English, will incorporate other pictographic symbols, such as Chinese characters for a logical numbering system that English does not have (for instance, note how our numbering system in the teens (eleven, twelve, thirteen, etc.) is different from the rest of the decade numbers (20s, 30s, etc. - decade+one (21), decade+two (22)), thus making English-speaking children waste time learning as archaic a numbering system as English money or American weights and measures). I would see if there is a university student exchange program that gives you a paid study time abroad, preferably in a large Chinese city (but studying in a small village has enlightened many of my friends who worked for the Peace Corps). I would use my skills of fashion, poetry and business to teach those around me about working holistically in the global marketplace, showing my new colleagues and fellow students that those who can absorb multiple cultures and find a way to combine the best of the cultures into valuable resources (like a computer system interface that is not slanted toward English but appeals to all humans' understanding of picture-words), will be the ones who define the "next great thing" like the intuitive interface on the iPhone, the image of a stadium as a bird's nest, a simple swoosh to define a product's marketing such as the ones that shoe manufacturers use, or any other method where storytelling and product sales meet elegantly.

I have always believed in your ability to see beyond your limitations. In some cultures, you are still "just a woman," good for having babies. To be sure, you are capable of and may desire to have children, but you will do more than that, too, I know.

Most importantly, the perspective of both sexes is necessary to move the world of humans fully into the 21st Century. The latest U.S. Presidential election showed us that gender and race have almost become a moot point. Almost. That's a word that worries me. When economic times get "bad," especially in the news, many people look back and declare the past as a better time, including old ideas that no longer make sense. If we want to keep moving forward to a truly better time, then you, a young, talented, ambitious businesswoman, are the reason we will do so.

No matter what you do, you will succeed. No question there. You'll have fun while learning and teaching others. Another no-brainer. I'm no wise guru or oracle but I'll pretend to be one for a moment and peer into the future. This crystal ball in front of me is a little dusty so pardon me while I wipe it clean. Okay, the haze inside the ball is clearing. I see an image of you 30 years from now. You've received some sort of accolades from your associates. You're standing in front of a virtual podium, from which you're broadcasting a 3D message to viewers and fans around the globe, both to people on the street and to people in online role-playing games. From your words, I gather that you've written a bestselling story that was turned into a 3D "movie" -- apparently, in the future, as we write stories, our text is instantly converted into animated "movies" so that we can see we're moving our characters in 3D space as we type, complete with hyperlinks and running commentaries from online collaborators who can watch and participate in our writing with us -- a combination of word processors and role playing games that you helped invent. I can hear from your talk that storytelling is a completely market-driven vocation, so that any mention of a place, an article of clothing, food, or even the characters that we create (who typically resemble real people we know or celebrities), automatically links to the rest of the real-world existence of these. You thank a bunch of people who helped you out, including your university friends who were on the cutting edge of software development in a village of unemployed intellectuals in 2009 and 2010. Your friends pop up in 3D broadcasts next to you as you mention them and thank you for their success, too. Your son surprises you and sticks his head in from his job as a manager of a space hotel, saying that without your foresight to establish a foundation for research into how to tap the "brainpower" of idle computing devices in people's homes and offices (including computers, UMPCs such as cell phones, and smart appliances), we might never have figured out how to eradicate major diseases, an effort that ultimately enabled him to overcome the paralyzing disease that made him a quadriplegic and later learn how to permanently work and live in space.

See, I'm excited for your future! I hope your boyfriend is, too. Next time he wants to meet you, remind him that you've got a space colony to establish so you can't diddle-daddle too long. lol

BTW, the classes I'm teaching as a part-time adjunct instructor are "Introduction to Computer Programming," using the Python language, and "Strategies for the Technical Professional," which is the first class that students have to take at ITT Tech, meaning I am the teacher/coach that ITT Tech students see as the "face" of ITT Tech. No pressure on me, huh?

Gotta go. Time for lunch. Tell your boyfriend, in case he doesn't know it already in his country, that Valentine's Day is the biggest holiday in the U.S., so he owes you something important (whatever it is that you think he can afford to give you, of course), since he knows you before you got famous and can take you some place nice without having to take your entourage with you, too.