Change is Hard

A former boss and the best mentor I ever had often said "change is hard" when promoting a new idea at a staff meeting. Gasp! To her this "change" was filled with excitement but everyone else saw any change to the status quo as filled with dread. What does this mean? Will my job get harder? Will I have the skills to do this new thing? What's wrong with doing things the same way we've always done them? It's safe and known and I'm pretty good at it. Does change really have to be this hard?

Sometimes a life change IS hard and sudden and dramatic (a devastating diagnoses, an unexpected loss) and is associated with something bad. No one wants bad things to happen so we strive to avoid any kind of change. It's safer to not think about life changing.  How do we graciously accept constant change?

I've learned that good change and bad change coexist together to create the yin and yang of life.  Some changes in life are by choice and some just happen whether we like it or not. We can't appreciate one without the other. A year ago this week we were settling into our apartment in Savannah. I consciously made the choice to change jobs, move to Savannah, leave friends and family, and exchange the "safety" of what I knew for a different opportunity. I was excited about all the possibilities that Savannah had to offer. I was ecstatic to start an increasingly more responsible position at the public library. I was thrilled for the chance to learn something new.

Positively, we moved to a wonderful city that we love. We've enjoyed a lot of quality time with family and have met some fascinating new friends. We bought the perfect house in the middle of the historic district within walking distance to everything. We've explored, tasted, talked and laughed our way through the last year.

Unfortunately my job change did not work out so well. With loving support from my husband, I made the choice to walk away after eleven months.  I had no way of knowing that the job would turn out to be something different than I expected. My personal and professional ethics were challenged and I opted not to compromise my personal and professional ethics. As I said to one administrator, "I'm too young to retire, but I'm too old to put up with these shenanigans". So I walked away with my self-respect in tow. At first I worried a lot about losing my "librarian" identity but it was more important not to lose myself. It seemed like a big, life-altering change at the time but is getting smaller and easier by the day. The best part is that I get to spend more time with my family and friends doing the things that I love in a place that I love. Through the entire soul searching process I learned a lot of positive things about myself and that is always a good thing!

A few years ago I attended a library workshop called "Lead the Change". The presenter, referring to  library organizations, said "if you're not changing you're not growing".  This is true in our personal lives as well. I have found that what might look like a "bad" change usually leads to something very good. I'm not sure what is in store for me next but it is time again to embrace change and grow.  Change is good!

Savannah or Bust!

Life is a journey. Sometimes it takes us places we did not plan on going!

     In the spring of 2010 my husband Paul and I visited Savannah, Georgia for the first time. We were newly engaged and excited to take our first real vacation together. We fell in love with this city instantly! For the remainder of our vacation we asked "how do we get here"?
     Three years later we moved to Savannah for good. When I look back on the passage of time three years seems like such a short time. What I learned in those three years is that a lot can happen both good and bad to get us to where we want to be. The important thing is to enjoy the journey while finding your way "home".
     Paul and I were happily married in September 2010 and for a short time lived in his house in Townsend, Massachusetts. I loved my job as a library director in Hollis, New Hampshire but our desire for a new life in a warmer climate led to searching for a job in the south. Savannah was decidedly on our minds but at this time there were no jobs available and we were eager to escape winter. We made our way south with a brief two year stopover in North Carolina. I started a job managing three libraries in Greenville, North Carolina as Paul began working from home. Ironically our first house purchased together was in a neighborhood called "Savannah Place". Maybe this was the "Savannah" we were destined to be in.
     Shortly after our move to North Carolina we suffered a tragic loss when Paul's beloved daughter, Brynne, passed away in March 2011. We were reeling both physically and emotionally and definitely were not where we wanted to be. I should have learned by now that life always throw in a few unexpected curveballs. This Pollyanna rarely takes off the rose colored glasses and is sometimes blindsided when things don't go according to plan. A journey is supposed to be adventurous, exciting, and new. The bad and the ugly are never part of the "good" plan. Yet every experience shapes our direction and leads us to where we need to be. We somehow manage to put one foot in front of the other, find comfort in the family and friends we love, and continue on the road of life.
     Despite the fact that we had good friends and family in North Carolina there was something missing. We weren't close to a city or the beach. There wasn't an abundance of good restaurants or entertainment venues around. We weren't as close to our aging parents as we would have liked. My job wasn't as challenging or rewarding as I would have hoped. We felt stuck. Why stay? Time to change course and look towards Savannah again.  All we had to do was figure out how to get there! Time to put those rosy glasses back on and head out the door for our next big adventure.