Sometimes I start to tell people, “Yeah, man, this trip has changed me.”
But, this trip hasn’t really changed me all that much. Distilled, clarified, validated, those are probably better adjectives. Or maybe it’s most accurate to say it simply slowed me down, helped me do a better job listening to myself.
I am such a consultative person, always seeking opinion and consensus. Mostly making decisions after many conversations with trusted advisors. Having ten months where this consultation was, largely, not happening, my chief advisors being my wife and my own gut, was very different for me.
Liberating, even. Enabling me to make decisions unencumbered by outside opinion, operating on what puts my insides at peace versus how others may advise or respond. Like a solo decision you’d make in the heat of the moment: considered, weighed, decided, then acted upon. Self-reliance is empowering. Feeling good about choosing something that feels right is a powerful reinforcing thing.
I’m leaving my job of nineteen years. Not going back. The job has been great to me, but that season is over.
It means a lot of change. A new job, a move across the country, being farther from those we love and finding our footing in a new environment.
I’m excited.
Also written on this day...
- renegging - 2008
- verdant billboards - 2006