So a few things have been happening. I just haven’t been blogging about them.
Perhaps the biggest thing was finishing work on Friday. For good. For any new readers, I took a voluntary separation from my position at CQUniversity. I had been there since 1999 (as a student to begin with) and then as a lecturer from 2003. That’s a fair stretch of my adult life. I went from my 20s to the beginning of 40s. I’ve changed a lot, learned a lot, laughed, cried, persevered when I didn’t feel like it, met some amazing people (staff and students) and been witness to great successes and failures. The end had been coming for a while. I was restless and increasingly frustrated with my job. The opportunity to leave with a separation package felt like the universe tapping me on the shoulder saying “THIS IS IT DOOFUS; THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE A CHANGE”. So I put my hand up and was very fortunate that the cards fell my way. And even though I’ve had from June until Friday to prepare myself for leaving it was still difficult. I felt guilty about leaving good people to deal with the same old crap that had consumed my working days for the last few years. Luckily, some of that aforementioned crap continued right until the last day, reminding of the reasons I needed to get out of there. So I turned off my computer and handed in my keys and walked out to the car for the last time.
So like everyone else I have run into over the past month you may be wondering “Wendy, what are you going to do?”. Well, that’s a very good question. I don’t have a big plan. In fact I’ve never had a detailed life plan. I’ve just sort of fallen in directions and then followed the paths for as long as I could. So the plan at the moment looks like this:
1. 4 week holiday to the UK
2. Return to Bundaberg. Work on Masters’ research project like a crazy person and finish it.
3. Teach the piano
4. Get healthy – more exercise including swimming and either yoga or pilates
5. Eat healthy – plant a small vegetable garden. Start cooking proper meals at home
6. Sew my own clothes as much as possible
7. Practise the piano properly
8. Look around, get my head out of the workspace, see what else is around me
That’s it. That’s the plan as it stands. It may change. That’s good too.