Part 1. How Sarah J. Mass is Courting The Muse: A Journey Through Romantasy Book Covers, The Power of the Female Market, and Taylor Swift. This will be a multi-part series so stick with me if you like trendspotting and following the constellations of cultural zeitgeists.

Where yin meets yang. Today I sent an audio to two friends who are constantly in conversation with me about what fulfilling work looks like for millennials in 2024. In it I shared what a friend is doing quite well, so let’s take a look at it.

Caution: this a tale about a pumpkin spice matcha. If you hate Starbucks or pumpkin spice, you are still welcome here. It is seasonality in Big Capitalism at its finest and I’m shameless about this fleeting indulgence.

To exemplify this, I’ve attached a portfolio PDF I recently created for Atmos Magazine when applying for their Site Director role. Here are a few things I did to prioritize elements 1 & 2 (company alignment and personal journey):

So here I was, weeding away when my dog goes to the very corner of our white picket – but mostly shabby – fence, and starts whimpering at someone at the bus stop. She sounded like it was her long-lost owner. She’s a rescue.

Today we roamed a cemetery and it got me thinking about experience design. I’m not one to contemplate my gravestone, however, today I thought about something I would love to experience as a cemetery roamer.

Since leaving my job in publishing, in 2018, I’ve been on a quest for a career in purpose. What I actively prototype are strategies that will guide me to the answer: What do I want to do for work?

Not too long ago, we proposed a project that questions our preconceived notions of "meaningful work," the process of recruitment, and expected personas in the workplace.

Although this story is not directly related to finding a job in 2024, it is relevant. To give you some context of the job market here are the stats from 2018-2024, in 2-year intervals, starting with 2018 and finishing with 2024.

I used to have this saying that I lived by. It went: you're the problem AND the solution. I really believed we could solve our own problems - by ourselves. So much so, I prototyped this hard in 2020 when I left Lululemon and . . .

Relishing your rubies: I wanted to give you examples of how this plays out in our relationships and environments. Initially we have mutual admiration for each other’s chests. Yours may be full of rubies and gold coins, whilst theirs are full of copper and emeralds.

I have a theory that we are all walking around with a treasure chest. Stick with me on this one… I had a lengthy discussion with a new friend where I learned lots about her life.

I have been raised, like many, to follow a thought through to fruition; using a logical, type A, linear fashion. Meaning: when an idea enters my orbit and feels zesty, I act on it, in the most immediate and actionable fashion.

If you're not curious about the critical mass following Taylor Swift, you're missing out. Whether you like Taylor or not, the world can agree something is happening. Swifties may know what and why, but I think it is much more than music.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I received my Core Gift around the same time I was encouraged to watch The Big Door Prize. You see both of these entities collided in my life to ask the same questions: Why am I here? Is there a compass? How do I find it?

What if being alive is simply about expressing how we constantly respond to our environment(s)? I am ever curious about how one can live a life fully expressed – and more so, how it can exist within a career.

A bizarre thing happened on Tuesday. It was a day where I was hit with three powerful realizations about what stories limit me and what I’m capable of.

On Friday we completed the Master Facilitator Training with the Core Gift Institute and it got me thinking: how can we ever fully express ourselves?

Part 2: I left you with the question: How can we be fully ourselves and be financially supported? And the way I best understand this is in the drawing above ^

Part 1: A week ago I came across a graphic that kept me at night. See above ^