Week of Change

Hi all and welcome to my blog.  I have added links throughout, representing associated songs, books, articles, or random pieces of information that I feel compelled to add.  These links may give some insight into how my brain works and hopefully will be interesting to follow.  I am a big fan of people like Roger Ebert on Twitter who invariably point me to good stuff that is worth the click.  OK let's go:

What a week!  Changing jobs after being at my present company for over 7 years has been a flurry of activity and emotions.  'They' say it's at times like these that you learn about people, including who your real friends are. I am not sure how valid that is across the board, but I did get some interesting and varied reactions when I announced that I was leaving to work for another consulting company. Understandably, the people closest to me day-to-day knew quickly and reacted with initial surprise which quickly transitioned to support. 

While I was very solid in my logic and reasons for leaving, emotionally it can be kind of like breaking up with someone.  The message is basically 'I would prefer to be somewhere else besides here'.  Responses to that can range from 'me too!' to 'go ahead and leave, you bastard' to lots of others in between.  These were hard conversations for me and I approached them with the thought of just simply saying it, listening, and responding accordingly. I was overwhelmed by the professionalism and graciousness of my friends and co-workers.  It was truly amazing and gratifying. 

Overall my feelings have been that the people most important to me will stay in touch.  Strong relationships will continue to strengthen, evolve, and grow.  The past couple of weeks have been so hectic that I can't help feeling that I have left a few loose ends.  I didn't have time to talk to everyone on my list, to properly say goodbye to everyone, and to tell people who have helped me so much that I appreciated the invaluable chances they afforded to me. 

I think that is a natural feeling to have, but I also know that life and people are incredibly resilient and that paths cross again in many random and not so random ways.  Life is not about checking boxes and filing away results. I see us as extended families and communities networked together technically, culturally, and spiritually, continually interacting and supporting each other. 

And together we forge ahead!