The window won’t open. You push. You pull. You angle your...
The window won’t open. You push. You pull. You angle your wrist in upside-down corners, blindly hoping for leverage. In desperation, you bang on the sill. And something budges. At first a barely audible crack, of which you’re only halfway vested in. But then the window opens: a full blown gateway to fresh air.
Lately around our house, a lot of windows have been opening. It’s late fall here in western Massachusetts; not necessarily the time to make a habit of this. But after all, these are metaphorical windows, and metaphorical windows are always good to open.
About a month ago now, my wife, after ten years with a well regarded environmental non-profit, was laid off. It came as a shock at first. But the window is open now. Our three year old daughter has time with Mom. We have our evenings back; the demanding boss relegated now to his own private misery. My book career is finally getting some legs, and for the first time since becoming parents, we can actually handle this sort of setback. This, in stark contrast to the time three years ago when I lost my job with Disney after a CEO’s decision to shut down an entire company overnight; our daughter barely a month old. Even back then, though I didn’t know it at the time, a proverbial door (or was it a window?) had opened, giving me space to finally pursue my dream of creating a children’s book.
And then there’s this. Just yesterday, I made the call to put off a book project I’ve been struggling with for over a year now in favor of devoting more time to the one that was closer to my heart and next on my list. For months, I’ve been feeling like I’ve been getting nowhere with each edit taking me further away from what I was searching for. Ironically, now that I’ve shelved the project, I’m suddenly getting a ridiculous amount of work done – the pressure is finally off. I’ve taken care of long-neglected correspondences, cleaned my office, figured out e-commerce for selling prints, gone on long walks with fellow illustrators. At long last, the window is open.
I’m glad to breathe the air.
