There and back

I’m sitting here staring out at the dark inky waters of the lake, a fresh dusting of snow on the ground and clinging to the branches as the wind whips in circles, the branches trying to hold on to the snow. A month ago I was driving across the country once again and headed to another adventure. And here we are. In a 200 year old house with 12 foot floor to ceiling windows, a slight breeze coming in, even through the storm windows. I’m pondering once again how appropriate the title of this Substack is for me. Next Obvious Thing. How often when I am not ready to make a decision and choose to not make one, if I sit quiet long enough a decision is made for me. And I don’t mean that in a passive “ I’m going to do nothing mode” but more of a let’s just go with the flow, don’t try to force something that doesn’t feel right, or that I’m trying to make feel right. I’ll backtrack a little here.

At the end of August my partner and I (after much deliberation and uncertainty) chose to pack up our cars, leave Vermont and head back to our condo in Michigan. You can read about that decision HERE if you’d like more backstory. I had a little bit of a culture shock and period of adjustment, but after a few weeks had started to reconnect with friends, explore more running routes, find good coffee shops, started cooking again for a previous personal chef client, did some writing for my local Food Coop and settle in to the fact that we were back and it would be ok. I was still trying to decide what else I wanted to do while back, but nothing was calling to me just yet, so I’ve learned in my many decades of life not to force or jump into anything. My partner had settled in to his new job and was enjoying the low stress of the position and the variety, but to be honest, not incredibly challenged, but it was all okay. We have both learned that lesson of going with the flow.

At the beginning of October my partner got an email from an organization that he had applied for job with about a year and a half ago, back in Vermont. They had created a new position and would he be interested in interviewing for it? We read over the job description together and it was as if they took all of the jobs that he had over the years and rolled them into one position. It was literally written for him. And as an added bonus the position provided housing. The timing was crazy. We had only been back here for a little over a month. We were settling into life here. But something about the opportunity said he needed to follow this path, this next obvious thing. At least take the interview and see where that leads.

Over the course a month he had four rounds of interviews with about a dozen people on the staff. They were certainly thorough, which was good for their sake, as well as for my partner. After each round it felt like a game where we moved up in the standings, yet not knowing if and who the other competitors were. But we never mentioned it to anyone else or let ourselves get too excited. Over the course of the years we’ve been together, the sure things didn’t always happen. Plus, we were ok. Things were fine. Not exciting or challenging or new but fine. And fine is fine.

It was now November and it had been a week since the last round of interviews. References were being checked, but still, we were not packing or telling anyone. And then one Friday afternoon he got a phone call offering him the position and without hesitation it was decided that he would take it and we would be moving. Again. To the next obvious thing.

The next week was a whirlwind, with my partner giving his notice at his job that he had been at for 2 months. Surprisingly, everyone was so excited for him, when he explained the opportunity, and even told him he’d always be welcome back. Slowly we told friends and family. We had already planned to fly to my family in NY for Thanksgiving (the following week) and had decided to surprise everyone with the news then. We returned to Michigan after the holiday and within a few days we were packing the cars (and to be honest, some of our things were still in bags from the trip out!!! )

We were delayed a day or two leaving because of blizzards and snowstorms but when we finally hit the road it was smooth travel for 1000 miles. Appropriately our first stop back in Vermont was to visit the friends that we stayed with on our last night in Vermont back in August. Talk about full circle!

So now I’m sitting here at my makeshift desk, typing these words and staring out at the lake again. The sun has come out from behind the clouds and now the inky dark water has turned a shimmery blue. And I am feeling the gratitude of trusting the process, the next obvious thing. Listening to the nudges and signals from the universe, and being open to explore the unknown, knowing from past experience that sometimes it is great and sometimes it isn’t, but it is always worth the journey.

Have you ever followed a nudge that led to something wonderful or unexpected?

Thank you for being here with me today and reading my ramblings. Please let me know if you liked today’s post by tapping the “heart” and add a comment if anything in particular resonated with you. I always enjoy hearing from you! I am so Incredibly grateful for all of my readers and subscribers, All of your likes, comments, and notes are truly an inspiration to me.