Sabbatical

As of 5 pm today, I am no longer working with FNC.

In 2011 we fulfilled our new year's resolution, to finish the projects that we had already started, and not pick up any new ones. We did not: have another child, move, buy any new real estate, start any new businesses, initiate any massive renovations, or change employment situations. We DID: get the grocery store on its feet, complete the renovation of 301 Main and rent out the remaining offices and storefront, and take a solid family vacation in August away from MS.

By the third week of 2012, I was antsy, by the beginning of February I was pulling out my hair without a new goal/project/life direction.

On the 13th of Feb. I resigned from my corporate job, and started dreaming of the next big thing. In the immediate term I expect to soak in my family, read a backlog of things I want to have in my head to chew on, and do various small projects without a single thought that is driven by needs and desires of employer/client/task that I am not invested in doing. It rained yesterday, and I am happily feeling and smelling the grass grow through my open window, anticipating zooming around on my mower with fresh new blades for the season. The kids' new life preservers have been bought and tested, and the canoe was out on Sunday for a test run.

We kicked the afternoon/evening off with the dedication of the blues marker for Casey Jones in downtown Water Valley. Tonight Bozart gallery is having another child-friendly art opening, featuring an artist I am very fond of; the last big art purchase I made before setting aside the day wage.

There are aspects of trepidation, even minutes after stepping out for the first time in my adult life. It's losing out to the excitement.

If I unabashedly claim one virtue for myself, it is the ability to execute. Show me a mountain, challenge me, and I will get to the top, without wasting any time.

The world has catered to this, presenting me with all sorts of amazing opportunities. I take them, but it is no credit to me that I am presented with the option. Alexe... fell into my lap. The kids... fell into my lap. Each job I have had since I was 14 was offered to me at an opportune time. The right education path, the right living circumstance, I certainly made the effort to get them when they were presented to me, but they first waived in front of my face, then I leapt.

This is my first leap into open space. And it feels absolutely right. I may be blindly relying on the universe to again present me with the next massive challenge, the one that I am willing to pour myself into, and feel that the end goal is enough to trade my limited timeline for. We'll see.

In the meantime I will be thinking about it hard. In between not thinking about anything serious, hard. Up to this point I feel I have appropriately applied myself to the tools required to be able to pounce and accomplish whatever comes next. Knowledge, experience, ethics, and most importantly a community of people with a diverse set of passions and abilities and exceptional drive.

The summer is mine and my family's. A week in the fall is for Burning Man and Nicholas. After that, I don't know, but I hope it's big, and challenging.

Cheers. If you have any ideas, for fun, business, or saving the world, feel free to share.

Some pictures of the blues marker dedication ceremony, or more appropriately, of the kids at the ceremony. Alexe is delivering BTC groceries. :)

(Caspian just walked in and explained the scratch on his face with an elaborate story about the bear in the woods who stopped the car and scratched his face with his claws.)

Picking the kids up this afternoon from the learning center. We still love how much time Caspian spends outside there, but as of Monday he will also be running with the parents from now on.

Annaliese and her best friend meet up at the dedication.

Caspian chilled with me for a while.

Kids listening to Scott Barretta, the host of Highway 61, playing various versions of Casey Jones songs.

Great turn out.

And Water Valley's new blues marker.

Canoeing on Sunday, my play mate.

We had some trouble getting the kids to stop rocking the boat.

Alexe and Annaliese are pulling the boat out of the water. Caspian, I kid you not, is directing them by waving the boat in.

My new office above the BTC. Reading/movie area in front of the mantle, my desk made from a sweet potato crate and 2" thick heart pine planks for work in the middle, and the kids have their own arts/crafts/learning area. We built them a table and painted it together this week.