Everything in life happens exactly as it's supposed to in the time and manner that it is meant to happen in. A couple of weeks back, the person taking the company reigns had a town hall meeting. He encouraged discourse and I asked about the temps. I asked what was going to be done for the many people that they had invested training in, that they were losing in a company exodus to other companies. His answer inspired hope, and I emailed my gratitude, and then applied for an open position that I never heard back from.
Fast forward to Thursday when I sat alone at a table during the holiday party. I was joined by strangers in Sales that told me about a position they were looking to fill. I was asked for my email, and typed in my work email address, with anticipation and excitement.
Work resumed Friday and I plugged through, with my Dad's heart surgery on my mind. Saturday afternoon, I received a catalyzing call. My contract was terminated and the Friday I had worked was my last shift. My things would be boxed for me to pick up from the agency. I would turn in my badge, and I was asked to not contact the company.
I made friends and met people I really respected, and a farewell isn't a courtesy I can offer in my gratitude. I only hope showing up authentically was something I did consistently, and that they saw my love and admiration in our interactions.
It's not even two weeks until Christmas. I'm a single mom that doesn't get help from my kid's Dad. I get to figure this out.
My first step was to apply for unemployment.
The next was to reach out to friends that may know of an opportunity.
The step after that was to start searching for a job.
The one that came next was to realize the gravity of the gift that I've been handed.
I spent the last few months at a company that paid me like they didn't care to keep me. I had been passively looking for a better opportunity. My kids are about to be on vacation from school. My Dad will need more support since he had surgery, and I will be okay because everything happens the way it's supposed to at the perfect time for it to. I will need to be available. Unemployment won't cover all of my needs but it will do enough that I will be okay. And I get to expect to receive better than I had accepted.
I felt gratitude for spending months around people I genuinely liked and powerful business women I admired. I had a moment of quiet reflection on the men that worked there that gave me pleasant moments of eye candy admiration. I may even miss those moments of turning a corner to almost crash into Mr. Insanely Tall and Beautiful. (Really, a girl can't always handle that much hotness on such short notice.) I felt a little sad that I never told him that his fan club prefers it when he doesn't shave his face so cleanly. I appreciated the fact that while it was normal to walk in on someone crying in the bathroom from the stress, it was never me. I genuinely loved what I did and that's not something everyone can say.
Day 3 Dawns early with getting my older two off to school. I get back in bed to snuggle my youngest and breathe in the soft smell of the tear free shampoo we still use. Waves of anxiety and peace wash over me and the result is an exhaustion that settles over me throughout the day.
I don't have a job. My Dad just had heart surgery. My artistic/autistic son wants me to spend about $200 on 24 gray Copic markers and I choose to do whatever it takes because I want to support his dreams. Existence is exhausting.
I finally finished decorating my tree and pulling out my little Lemax Christmas village. I've already unwrapped that latest present to myself. I clear away the tiny snails and algae that was stopping the flow of water in my pond, and I look at the rose bush that hasn't had the pruning or deadheading I was planning in the spring, but also neglected this fall. And then there was the sunset. I worked through the season change in a room without windows to easily look out of, and I was only catching sunset with intention on the weekends. Today when puttering around the house I've neglected for work, I was caught off guard by the sun setting in the west toward Dodger's Stadium. I stood still and felt my chest rise and fall with my breathing. I watched the sky shift from yellow to orange and red, then inky blue. I straightened my posture and the feel of it reminded me that in the last few weeks, I had been slouching again.
I loved what I did, but I was often working through meals and rushing along hallways. I wasn't stepping in the authority of who I am, but lost to the movements of a zombie with too much thought in my head to intentionally engage outside of myself. That's not how I want to live and it's only now that I'm not, that I can see how I was.
Job hunting has resumed. I am taking it on like a job, and soon I'll be back to applying from my phone at the beach or on a trail, or in a museum. Throughout the day I was clenching my fist, to then look at my open palm. It reminded me that I can't receive when I refuse to let go, and holding onto nothing only left crescent shaped nail marks in my palm. You receive nothing new by holding on. You cause more pain in refusing to release. I held my palm up, as if waiting to receive. And I expect to find that miracle. There aren't any other options.