Promise Of The New Year

I love New Years. It's one of my favorite holidays. Not being one for drunken revelry, I like it because it's a celebration of the passage of time, of marking change and transition, looking back over the journey you've taken around the sun during the last 365 days, and thinking about the one to come.

I'm still got a peaceful, easy feeling about the date I had this past Saturday with a great, great guy. And there's a new development. I've been sending out my resumé, and I got a bite. A non-profit in Philadelphia is looking for someone to do fundraising and what amounts to marketing and public relations. I head down to the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection on Monday.

So the past few days at work have been bittersweet. I didn't embark on this job search on a whim. It was pretty well thought out. A few recent developments have soured me some on Wuperior Soodcraft. Mostly on the nutty duo that run the place. But all those things seem distant and abstract. At the fore of my thoughts is the fact that I love the guys I work with, and I enjoy the work I do from 7 am to 3:30 pm. No matter what mood I'm in when I arrive, I leave smiling.

But, there is the money issue. It is just not easy making it on $10 an hour. My wee little paychecks just won't cover it, and I can't make them stretch. And it just doesn't allow me much in the way of possibilities. Not, to be sure, for Things. (I don't need more things. I've got plenty.) But heading out into the world. To MAL, to CLAW, to Inferno, to Florida, to Southern California, to Europe. Heck, a trip down to Philadelphia (parking: $14; coatcheck: $6; water and Red Bull: $12; gas: $15) seems out of range many weekends.

And gosh... returning to the world of non-profit management? Didn't I swear off that? Didn't I post here endlessly about never being chained to a desk again?

Well... yeah.

But here's the deal. I was burned out. It was harsh. I just couldn't approach things with any gusto. Two years in the blue collar world, working side-by-side with blue collar men, has taught me a lot. About focus. About always always always doing your best. About what it means to stand behind your work. About being part of a team. About looking always for opportuninties to shine. About the conviction and going with your gut, even when you're not sure of yourself.

And I've got a lot of skills. There are a lot of things that I'm really really good at, and many of them are valuable in the non-profit world. It's time to put them to work.

A conversation I had with the Baron von Philadelphia was a turning point, too. He observed that I am in what amounts to my prime earning years. I'm seasoned. I'm a known quantity. I've mastered many aspects that young'uns--despite their boundless energy--haven't yet. I've got to take advantage of that now, because it won't always be the place. Sometime in the future, when things aren't so rosy, then will be the time to stand aside and let some young buck have his or her shot, and I can go off and work with my hands.

And that makes sense.

So.

2006.

New man in my life. New job. Significantly enhanced income. It could be a good year.

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