Thoughts on the threshold of the next step. It has been just over eleven years since I arrived in Aberdeen—a freshly minted widow. This week I am packing the last little bits for a move, while trying not to stress on what can be packed today versus what needs to wait until the last morning in this home.
I had not owned a house for decades when I made the decision to find a place for my husband’s last weeks in hospice. When I moved, I moved alone. I chose a project home that needed tender loving care with repairs, upgrades, and renovations. In part, I had chosen the home because I knew the little things would bug me until I did something. And I so needed “something” to keep me moving forward.
Another major shift was that I had been working remotely for a Canadian firm and I wanted to find something in the same time zone, and maybe interact with people face to face again. Took a bit, but I got there. Gathering experience in sectors I was passionate about such as mental health and tribal housing. I learned a lot, some good, some not so much, but always part of finding my next path. For the past five or so years I have been working remotely, or part time in a client’s office. Slowly, I made my own space in the market and was able to mix a boutique client base with seasonal management for one of the market leaders in tax preparation. Now that is shifting even further into my private practice.
Most anyone that knows me knows I write. I have published two nonfiction books, several short stories, a few poems, and I now have an agency contract to market my first novel. Well, one of my first novels. I am being drawn more and more into the world of the word. Balancing my love of numbers and writing has been a challenge.
Now comes the change, a major change, in the path of my life choices. I have sold my home (yep, ink is dry and the check has cleared the bank) and I am moving to a lovely rental near the coast on the shores of Willapa Bay. Yes, I squished things down quite a bit, but I still require a storage unit. That’s okay, because this summer, or however much of a year I need, is a time to assess my next steps. What my priorities should be. Where my dreams will happen.
So what are those dreams, those plans? Well, for the summer, it is writing. I want to complete the next book in Dolma’s series, and I want my agent to take a look at my other novel. A stand alone story of dealing with change. I also want to curate my client base. My current portfolio includes several folk with whom I share a mutual trust and the ability to combine their goals with how the numbers develop, where the choices are, and what we can do to free them to follow the passion they had when they first decided to pursue their business dreams. All that with accurate and meaningful financial information.
There is more. Because I love writing and feel that the coaching I have sought out over the past several years has allowed to me strengthen that skill, I want to push it further. My commentaries on various bits of current events, spiritual subjects, and general explorations of who we are as humans and what that means for the future of our globe, have garnered an audience (however small or large it may be). For that reason, I want to sharpen my ability to speak truth in the world, to give my audience something to think about, maybe even provide inspiration to make a difference—even if I have to bury it in satire as the minstrels of old.
A piece of that is to pursue my masters. I’ve wanted to do this for years but didn’t have the time or money. I was focused on philosophy, and I still intend to formalize my knowledge in that subject. The goal, though is to seek a degree in politics and governance so that when I offer my views, I can support them with the punch of facts and understanding. In short, I want to spin that annoying utilitarian trolley around. We shouldn’t be deciding which lives should be sacrificed, we should be finding a way to keep people off the track in the first place. I’m good at numbers, I’m good with words. With the process of getting that degree I can start to develop the network that will give me a chance to show what I can craft.
I want to publish my fiction. That will hopefully move forward this year. It would tickle me endlessly to have my ladies introduced to the wider world. I’m told they are quite interesting.
Then, there are the personal choices. As a cancer survivor, access to reasonably priced medical services is a priority. Thankfully, Medicare is taking care of that for now, but who can know for how long that will last. I would also like to be in a place that is actively pursuing answers to cancer and the physical impacts of the treatments. I had to make a lot of decisions this past year to make it possible to choose the best treatment options to protect me from a recurrence. My maternal DNA projects another decade or more of living. I’d like that time to be interesting and engaged.
Of course, the political atmosphere may also guide my choices. I want to speak honestly and openly, and it is getting increasingly difficult to do that. No guarantees on what my future plans will be after I spend this time assessing my options free of the obligations of home ownership and with the freedom of a financial security which I have rarely experienced.
Wish me luck.
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