Friday, February 20, 2009

Spinning the Cocoon, Preparing to Fly

We can easily create little cocoons to wrap ourselves in. We go to work and find a rhythm to the tasks that need to be done, we get along with co-workers, we find time to check our personal emails and favorite websites between tasks, we collect our pay and go home. We relax on the weekends and come back Monday to begin the cycle all over again.

That is how things work in a world in which there is some stability. Perhaps this wave of upsetting events in our economy is part of a cosmic tide that is eroding our stability so that we must venture out farther to discover what our capacities really are.

I have recently invested an enormous amount of energy into creating my new full time career as a reader. I had always wanted to do more of that, but the instability of my day job warrants further action. Not having a plan and depending on the company could lead to disaster. So the transition is still in progress and I just need for the day job to last long enough to build the reading business up substantially. Then I can make the transition on my own terms.

When we have the comfort of a job that we can count on, there is no real need to see what else is happening out there. Sometimes when we look and try to build our career based on our experience and education, we get a rude awakening. So we either adjust our goals, or we learn to create something new.

This is not the first time I have started my own business from scratch. I have done it before, and once it got going, it was wonderful. Always that alternating current that is so electric when you find work and then do the work. Meeting new people and creating new situations. Becoming more aware of everything, every possibility, every lead, every idea.

We spin the cocoon to gather our strength and make the transition in order to prepare to fly. It is scary learning to fly if you have not done it before. It can also be invigorating. It is also invigorating knowing that I am in the cocoon stage, gathering my strength. I am very aware of my circumstances. I am feeling very alive and connected.

I am very aware that not everyone wants excitement and change in their life. Some people would be happy if they could just have a steady job that they could count on and not worry about if they will get laid off or their company will close or merge. I can absolutely relate to having a job where you just log in, do your work, log out and go home. Some people function best that way, and the world needs those people in those ways too.

My feeling is that the cosmos is shifting and that a lot of us are going to need to be ready to fly as a matter of survival. However, if we try and build our flight plan around activities we enjoy, the transition will be an experience that opens us up to greater possibilities. Building from our strength is a good place to start.

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