Go Where You’re Wanted

It was an exciting week–and the harbinger of great change. Wisconsin failed the three strikes rule for me, with three different companies downsizing and shedding my position in the eight and a half years we’ve lived here. We’re uprooting.

The joy of this move is that my new employer seems enthusiastic about the skills I bring to the table. Reviewing the position description included with my offer letter read like my new job had been designed specifically for my strengths. And I get to live in the DC area, close to my brother and his family as well as my mom, cousin, and assorted other family as well as friends dating back to when I went to High School in that region. It will be, as my mom has said, “the return of the prodigal daughter.”

The funny thing about this big step is that as exciting as it is, and as much as it seems my skills will be welcomed, the next six months will be a challenge. Coordinating the logistics of streamlining our household and closing down his acupuncture practice will fall to my husband, and we’ll have to content ourselves with once-a-month visits while those details shake out. I worry about Kyra. As strong and independent as she is, she’s always mourned when I’ve gone away; what will six months of only rare physical contact with me do to her and her health–especially as old as she is?

The funny thing about how this lines up with my current class (Leadership and Organizational Behavior), is that we were discussing personality styles this week and what it takes for each of us to find success in our jobs. I took the Meyers Briggs test for the umpteenth time and confirmed again that I’m an INFJ. My J self wasn’t satisfied that we had understood the scope of the change until we created a spreadsheet with deliverables tied to particular dates and understood how to divide out the mountain of work we face to be realistic with our expectations. Turns out the gut-thought of six months wasn’t wrong. My NF self spent a few days of cuddling my velcro dog and promising her this was all for the best–at the expense of a good night’s sleep.

So in my prioritization for the week… I signed on for a new job. I did my assigned course work. I took a 2.28 mile walk with my girls on the one day the temperature made that possible. And I managed 524 words of fiction.

Apparently I’m still discombobulated enough that the fiction-writing closest to my heart still wasn’t enough of a focus that I could set aside the shiny objects of all these changes and be super-productive. The list of things I have to do this week makes me wonder if I will be able to focus on it now. We’re headed out on a dream vacation that’s been in the planning phase for over a year, which means I’ll be offline 2/1 – 2/8, and my new job starts 2/10. So I’ve already had to box up and ship some work clothes to be ready for that new chapter. I need to do two weeks’ worth of assignments before I go so I don’t fall behind in class, and that spreadsheet I mentioned earlier has a couple of administrative things for me to take care of prior to our departure.

I’m still hopeful I’ll finish the first draft of Red Slaves book 3 before I start the new job–I don’t have that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that we’re doomed anymore–and in theory vacation time means some unstructured hours. But you’ll have to wait to hear about my progress until we get back.

😀

Meantime, check out how the other ROW80ers are doing with their goals.