Trial & Error

Pretty much everything I've gotten right in life has been through trial and error.  Great marriage?  Its my second.  Had to have a "starter marriage" in my early twenties, and kiss a lot of frogs between the mid-20s & early 30s years to learn who to be with and how.  

Fulfilling, challenging career?  Sure.  After spending 16 hours a day, 6 days/week in a tiny cubicle, researching and writing minutiae about products liability and securities litigation (topics I care very little about) and deciding that the moment when I spilled an entire container of minestrone soup on my keyboard and called my sister to cry and rant about hating my job INSTEAD OF CLEANING IT UP was a sign to get the hell out.  And yes, I  found my talent for PR, and a way to integrate my passion for social change with my writing and speaking skills, but then I took a long break to focus on motherhood and I am still now, at 40, very much working on developing a career.

And speaking of mothering.  Oy.  Raising my kids seems to call for more falling down and getting back up, practicing over and over, and getting in a good cry and then moving on than anything else I've ever done.

Apparently, to authentically learn and grow, I have to experiment.  A lot.  Get messy.  Reevaluate.  Readjust.  Over and over.  Its really hard.  But the thing is, "The hard is what makes it great."  - Tom Hanks, "A League of Their Own":    

And it really is great.  I secured my first consulting gig in Denver this morning.  A project with an organization whose mission I care deeply about; a project I could start while my son, home sick from school, sat nearby watching TV on the couch.  So I'll keep doing it the hard way.  My way.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Would you?

Have a great weekend,

-E