Je Ne Sais Quoi: Leaving the 9-5

It seems like forever since I've posted about je ne sais quoi! So without further adieu, here's a little story about leaving the 9-5 from yours truly...

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away (or about 2 miles) there was a girl who worked in a cubicle. She arrived at her cube promptly at 8 every morning, and left around 5 to return home. Her daily tasks involved spreadsheets and databases and sales quotas. And her dreams at night were filled with Outlook tasks and appointments and phone calls.

The girl originally journeyed to the land of the cubicles hoping to build a future--a career and new skills and respectable accolades. But what she found instead was that she did not fit in. The cubes were too confining, the tasks too structured and formal. She longed instead for color and creativity and passion. But to pursue those things meant leaving the land of the cubicles, and she wasn’t sure if that was such a good idea.

Because there were some good things about this far, far away (ok, 2 miles) land, like a steady paycheck and security and upward mobility. Beyond the borders of her cubby were less comforting possibilities, like failure and financial decline and isolation. And so she stayed. Days turned to months. Months turned to years (okay...maybe 1.5 years). And she wilted. And withered. And eventually dried up.

But not completely.

Finally, mustering her small measure of courage, she decided to leave the land of the cubicles and try to move somewhere else. The journey was very bumpy. She was lonely and often afraid. She lost her income, her status, her connections. She spent many hours fretting and feeling low after working with little to show for her efforts. But she kept moving ahead anyway. Days turned into months. Months turned to years (2). And slowly--ever so slowly--she started to set buds again.

Little by little her vision got bigger, and her creativity grew. She got better at what she was doing, and the work revived her spirit. She spent less time fretting, and more time living. She discovered skills she didn’t even know she had. She made new friends. And people started to notice her presence once again.

Because finally she was blooming.

Every once in awhile, the girl finds herself driving past the far, far away land (2 miles from her house) of cubicles and spreadsheets and considers how far she’s come. It certainly wasn’t easy. But coming into yourself never is.

Read more about my "lifestyle makeover" by clicking here!
Also, to read this week's email, "Spring is Budding with Possibility," click here!