If Only My Resume Could Say ...

Credit where it's due: Pop Culture Casualty gave me the idea back in March, to wonder what a resume might look like if we could put down the things we're really proud of. The idea has been spinning around my brain ever since, as I've sent out some fifty resumes all over the city for everything from teaching freshman writing at Drexel, to writing reviews of online porn (didn't get either job). Is there something I could put on my resume that would explain to these hiring directors that if I can manage a household through a year and a half of moves, construction, and insurance insanity following a house fire, I can certainly manage their fifteen-employee small business office? That I may not have experience as a marketing director, but I've sold a five-year-old on the idea of broccoli and green beans? So I'm composing a list of just a few of the things I'm proud of from the past several years, that won't ever find their way onto a resume.

1. Gave birth to a beautiful child, completely free of painkillers, after seventeen hours of pretty intense labor. (If I have the stamina and focus to do that, I don't think a sixty-hour work week could bother me.)
2. Developed a personal community of a dozen or so truly amazing female friends, each one of whom I treasure for their own unique gifts and talents, and each one of whom makes me feel powerful, beautiful, smart, and loving.
3. Had the courage to recognize the difference between comfort and happiness.
4. Started to write poetry almost two years ago, having never done so before--and then was selected as a finalist in a highly-regarded poetry competition.
5. Cleaned friends' houses for money, with absolutely no sense that I was demeaning myself.
6. Learned to love my body, no matter what its shape might be at the time.
7. Developed a taste for brussel sprouts!
8. Taught (and continue to teach) my son life lessons in open-mindedness, compassion, and self-awareness without self-absorption. Some of those lessons sink in faster than others.
9. Learned how to open a bottle with a lighter.
10. Discovered that bangs are a good look for me but not when it's humid, that blondes do not necessarily have more fun, that I look great as a redhead but the upkeep is way too much to deal with, and that my natural hair color really is pretty fabulous. Grey hairs and all.

I know you all have things you'd like to be able to put on your resume. Care to share?