Blowing with the wind of change

Spring. A season of change, growth, and renewal. As the dogwood trees began to blossom around Columbia a few months ago, the season of change took effect in our household as well (resulting in me channeling my inner David Bowie). Lightening, which had to go and disprove the popular theory, struck the same place twice: only two weeks after celebrating my one-year anniversary at my new job, I found out that I'll again be laid off in what is now less than 11 days. There was a lot of anger, followed by a debilitating amount of worry; but thanks to time, perspective, and an incredibly supportive husband, the cloud has passed, and now I'm embracing the silver lining that has begun to shine.

Perhaps the happiest side effect has been the rediscovery of what I truly love doing: writing curriculum. In the weeks following news of my layoff, I connected with former colleagues who threw a generous amount of freelance writing gigs my way. Less than 10 pages into my first manuscript, I filled the mysterious void that had developed over the past year. Since no full-time opportunities have been offered to me thus far, I've also been lining up some other part-time ventures, making for what will be a varied summer. A mix of writing, teaching, and tutoring will be a fun change from the 9-6 monotony. I'm not sure that I can keep up the renaissance lifestyle forever, but such fantasies prompted Hubby and me to reevaluate our priorities and talk about striving toward possible scenarios that might allow me more work freedom in the future.

Such discussion (along with our door being a target for projectile rocks and a BB gun hole in our car) has led us to another relocation... one exit up. I don't necessarily love the way our decision came about (nor do I love the idea of having to schlep everything again next month), but I think it is ultimately going to be a great move for us. An unexpected bit of excitement born from this change is that we have to downsize our stuff. Usually the thought of purging makes me short of breath, but I am actually looking forward to the freeing feeling of getting rid of those things that have remained in boxes and not missed since moving here last year. With all the craziness that life enjoys throwing, I'm in favor of simplifying it wherever I can.

While there is still an element of uncertainty about the future, I'm giddy at the thought of starting a new chapter. Instead of falling down, we're blowing with the wind of change, and I'm confident it's in the right direction.