#2: Happy [Unemployed] New Year!

Sixteen days of peace and quiet. That’s what I talked myself into as I closed the book on more than a dozen years of serving the community I grew up in. I figure that ought to be enough time to prepare for the sequel, which begins with uprooting several decades’ worth of a life I’ve built here in my hometown. The result is that for the next two weeks I technically won’t have a form of gainful employment. And it feels fantastic. Perhaps most importantly, this is a reprieve from carrying two phones everywhere I go, wearing a uniform, getting woken up for an emergency in the middle of the night, having a supervisor, parking a truck in my driveway that announces to the whole neighborhood what I do for a living, being exposed to hazardous environments, sitting in traffic, interacting with people during tragedy, and feeling compelled to respond to the phrase, “Good morning.” Instead, I keep leaving my one remaining phone lying around because my pajamas don’t have pockets. I wake up naturally after a full night of sleep. The negativity of others isn’t weighing me down. My neighbors are now staring at a “for sale” sign. And I can’t remember the last time I had an in-person conversation with someone. What more could I ask for?

In all seriousness, the imminent career transition actually became a full-time task of its own and was impacting my work. I also felt that resigning on the last weekday of the year was a good place to stop. In addition to juggling a steady flow of pre-employment meetings and paperwork while simultaneously keeping the house presentable for showings, it is time to start the very complicated process of packing for a position as unique as this one. I will explain all about that next week and end this post with the phrase that has been burning my ears for the past month.

“Are you excited?” is the question I get asked at least once per day. As if I’ve ever been accused of being excited about anything, the answer is no. Rather, I am ready. Everything seems so right, that it feels like I’ve done it before. I’m not anxious because I know this is why I am here. It’s like trying to get excited about an ending to a novel I’ve already read. Only this time it’s my own story, and I am the one writing it. So grab a bookmark.