90 Days and a Wake Up

I received my official notice today of my pending departure from Toyota.  It’s been coming since back in 2014.  Back then I was so ready to leave.  I was in Pakistan with an incredibly fun and fulfilling job when I got the news.  Now I am inside the 90 day window and will be jobless for the first time in 19 years and only the second time in my adult life.  Initially I was planning to look into NGO’s with positions in far away challenging places.  That may yet come to pass.  But first I am looking at returning to school for a certificate in leadership coaching.  I think I have much more to offer the world in that arena.  And, should I choose to go back to work for a large bureaucratic organization, it will help me there as well.

   

I bring this up because I had a wonderful evening doing tai chi on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific in my hometown.  I have always known when it was time to move on from one place to another.  Los Angeles became a bore in the mid-80’s.  Sasebo, Japan, the most beautiful place I have lived, began to look average after 5 years.  Malibu lost its luster before I departed for Pakistan.  But so far, my home town is still magical.  Before I began my forms today I watched a falcon hover in the air looking for prey.  It resembled a wasp or dragon fly below me.  Hovering in one spot.  Wings jerking about to maintain its posture.  Suddenly diving down toward the base of the cliff only to soar back up and repeat the search.  As I practiced tai chi chuan I watched the sun slowly set behind bands of cloud, orange, pink, blue: stunning.  I realized I am not yet done with this town.  It still holds something for me. 

I am not certain what the near future holds.  I have only a fuzzy plan for the next year.  I just know life will continue to be amazing as I strike out on a new path.  A new direction that has been calling since I was leaving for South Asia.  Life is such an amazing and wonderful adventure!  I feel like the luckiest person alive!