Another Chapter

I've been on my own, self-employed, or gainfully unemployed as I sometimes think of it, since November 2011.  It's been an interesting challenge, sometimes exhilarating and sometimes terrifying, but never dull. There were not a few sleepless nights where I've tossed and turned, worrying about money, where my next paycheck will come from, how I'll make ends meet, and yet somehow it's always managed to come together, sometimes not so elegantly, but the only victim has been my pride (and my savings account).

I managed to soothe myself by thinking about impermanence.  All things change, and this too, I knew, shall pass.  While there's no guarantee that the next stage will be better or worse, there was still no point in worrying that things will always be like they are at the present moment.

Now, some 26 months later, the next chapter is about to unfold.  I've accepted an offer for full-time, salaried employment, working in the same environmental consulting industry I've been in since 1981 (I know, I'm old), but with different partners and in a different role.  After two years and two months of self-employment, I can appreciate what I had taken for granted for 30 years:  the prospect of regular paychecks, paid health care and vacation, co-workers and office coffee.

Of course, there's always this: