Why do we fall, Sir?
So… that was September 2013. That sucked.
To call September a rough month would be an understatement. It started early with my losing my day job and went down hill from there.
It’s odd. A few weeks ago, I had zero intention of even announcing my current state of unemployment until I could also announce the start of a new position. Many reasons why, but none relevant in this moment. But as I look back on the month and can now see how things slid downhill from there, I see there’s a lesson to take a way from all of this.
The past 30 days have not been kind to me. Things were changing- without the structure of a day job, the days began running together and my ability to focus on anything for more than a few minutes was all but gone. I felt lost with no sense of direction and everywhere I turned, things seemed to be falling apart and all I could do was watch.
In some ways I felt very much like Bruce Wayne does in this scene from Batman Begins, as though I’m the one in the elevator looking up and watching the fire and feeling utterly powerless to do anything to stop it. Until one simple question is asked -
“Why do we fall, Sir?”
There’s a lot going on right now that I have no control over. But there is also a lot going on right now that I can control. Although I am searching for a new employment opportunity and working with recruiters and job boards and the like I have time on my hands. Time I did not have when I was employed full time. I also needed to find something to focus my energy towards while I wasn’t on the job hunt, something tangible something I could sink my teeth into. Something like…the CPA.
So I’m accelerating my CPA plans and with any luck and a bit of discipline I should have it completed by the end of November. That’s my new job. Granted, it’s a temp job, but it will do well to tide me over until I’m able to find the next opportunity to set me up in my career. It’s going to be intense and stressful and a royal pain in the ass. But it’s also the right time to focus on it and finish it.
The writing and podcasting continues, though it will be taking a back seat in priority to completing the CPA in the next 60 days. Still, work on Hunter continues slowly but surely. Production on Slipspace Harbinger continues to move along as I cast more secondary support roles and receive the first rounds of audio in from my primary cast. Work on the project I am co-writing has been put on hold until further notice. Most likely we won’t get back to it until 2014 and with any luck we’ll have a draft in time for Balticon.
Why do we fall? To learn to pick ourselves up. That’s a lesson to which we all should pay more attention. Be it job loss, an insanely busy period in our lives, an insanely emotional and stressful period in our lives, or something we regret saying to a friend in the heat of the moment, there are countless ways for each and every one of us to fall each and every day. The lesson we must learn, the lesson I’ve learned, is that we are not defined by the way in which we fall. We are instead defined by how we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and move on.
Until next time.
[image error]
