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A necessary change of scenery.

In sports lingo, “a change of scenery” refers to players who need a change in their career, to a new team or city, for various reasons.

Sometimes a player has been on one team for many years and, while still performing well themselves, may feel the need for a change due to the team around them. Such as a star on a rebuilding (losing) team who wants to win a championship on a current playoff team. Other times, the player is struggling or not a fit in a new coaching staff’s strategy scheme and would be a better fit on a different team. Or it is the final year of their contract, and their current team doesn’t want to give them an extension.

In my case, it would be like requesting a trade or being released from my contract. Since I’m not a professional athlete, I don’t have a contract and am an hourly worker; I sent my resignation to my bosses. I have my two weeks’ notice. This is the first time in my life that I’ve done this.

It simply felt like the right time for a change.

I saw an opportunity at a different employer and decided to go for it. They felt the same about me and offered me the job. I accepted the offer. It seems to be (without having worked there yet) a better fit for me now.

“A change of scenery” is an idiom that is defined as the following by thefreedictionary.com :

“a change of scenery
A change in one’s usual surroundings, perhaps precipitating a change in one’s life. It is most often used when one is moving to a new place.
I decided to move across the country for college because I really wanted a change of scenery after growing up in this small town.
Heather’s looking for a new job because, after 10 years at that company, she needs a change of scenery.
I can’t wait to go to the beach next week—I really need a change of scenery!”

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/change+of+scenery

Sometimes things change in a flash in life.

Things changed fast in March. When you’re feeling shitty and spend much time in solitude, you get to reflect on your life. I physically couldn’t do anything but be in a dark, quiet room and rest. Th re was no way to escape from myself or distractions. I was going through a potentially deadly medical experience, Serotonin Syndrome, and by week three, when my head began to clear up, I thought: “What am I doing with my life? Is this the path I want to continue? Do I want to go another year simply by getting by? Is this life what I want?” The answer was no.

I’ve been doing well at work but have been wholly exhausted or drained coming home every day. We tried accommodations and modifications to my duties. The workload has been different and suitable for me by trimming weed, but this is temporary. It reminded me that I miss doing this work and am still good at it. I’ e had energy after work to do things other than tv or browse the internet because I’m not wiped out. I could write on days off and did not need the entire weekend to recover. (I had to use this writing time for a work issue this past weekend, however, it’s a positive sign.)

My long-term outlook changed at about the same time.

The plan is to attend a four-year college to get a bachelor’s and master’s degree and become a therapist. It will be complicated with my current health condition, and I’ll have to go back to community college for a transfer degree to afford school. I can’t do that if work takes all my energy and focus. I have specific health needs and have to be able to do work to pay bills while going to school.

School is the plan because I’ve already tried the blue-collar path through working in restaurants, truck driving, and various temp labor work in my twenties. At first glance, College looks expensive. I’ll likely have debt after. On the plus side, because of the disabilities I have, my current income, and my background, I should qualify for financial aid and grants.

With this change, I can write about some experiences in the past year I kept to myself because I didn’t know how to write about them without a social media policy at work. I didn’t write about any of it, even innocent fun memories, because writing about people you know without their consent is tricky. I promised myself before starting this job to avoid this and to focus on my life because I made this mistake in the first year of blogging. Then, when I was promoted, it became unethical to do so. Now that time has passed and I’ve matured as a writer, it’s worth another look.

It’s worth a shot as fiction. Probably something like Kitchen Confidential meets Half-Baked. To do it right would be to create new characters and a fictional setting. Something to consider for a future project, as I have yet to finish any story project I’ve started, and been working on a little something that I want to complete first as I have more to work with regarding it. Stay tuned, as I plan on making Thursday posts for fictional stories. Monday will remain personal blogging content.

Guess this means that my future is as a therapist for work and a writer for fun.

First things first. I have two weeks left here and adjust to the new job after.

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Stay tuned; this Thursday is Duck season, chapter 1, rough draft.

• The Holy Grail & Lessons from Teeth
• A Series of Changes
• Chop wood, Carry Water
• Grey again
• Mary Jane’s Last Dance & Disappointment

P.S. It’s been one of those days. I intended to give my notice in person today, but my Prius key fob battery was dead. I assumed my Car wouldn’t start and had to be opened manually because of the fob. So I have to call out of work. Walk to the corner store, and it’s closed. Get the FOB battery changed later in the day, and… Car still won’t start. I assume it’s the regular battery due to the pouring spring rain today. So I’m hoping the problem is just that.

Work was incredibly kind and thoughtful regarding my resignation/two weeks’ notice. I’m so grateful to have worked with them and our journey for almost two years. Despite being the right time for a change, and I did it the right way considering the circumstances, it’s sad to say goodbye.

I look forward to and am anxious about the next two weeks…

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