Thanksgiving Report, and After
Dec. 2nd, 2008 10:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hobgoblinnThanks first to everyone for your encouraging comments on my last post. I've been busy the last few days settling into this new experience of unemployment and reality. But I did want to report that the time in Corpus Christi with my Beloved's family over Thanksgiving went much better than I dared hope. Everyone welcomed us into the fold with warmth and affection. Wee Hob found some kindred spirits in the younger generation (23, 17 and 14)-- poets all, and they had poetry readings out on the dock just about every night. They even inspired him to try his hand at some poetry, which I got to see because I typed it up for his Nano Word Count. A couple are about his little girlfriend, very ardent and touching expressions of friendship and loyalty and admiration of her beauty.
The main thing I got out of the trip, though, was a confirmation that this is the man, and by extension, the family I'm supposed to be with. It's not just fuzzy feelings, though of course I have those too. It's seeing how we work together as partners in mundane ways. And being able to see ourselves as older people like his folks, taking care of each other, years from now. And it's seeing how we three fit together in a family context.
It was weird being the one returning to CVG airport, not the one waiting for the passenger to make it through the endless terminals from the gates.
And now to the soul crushing process of figuring out what to do next with my life here. I have a few leads but no interviews lined up yet. I suspect I won't get much until after the first of the year-- this time of year sucks for job hunting. So to stave off natural depression in the situation I have been trying to do things to get myself out of the house. We attended the last write ins for Nano. Neither of us made our goals. But Wee Hob got a total of 3096 words of his story and some poetry, which is huge for him. If he had worked every day consistently, he could easily have made his goal, and he is planning on trying again next year. My goal was 100 words every day, but I missed the day I lost my job, and on Thanksgiving itself I only managed 95. I got to 17293, myself (though the Nano site has it at 17,291-- must have mis-typed. Ah well.)
I also noticed a a writing community on Gaia-- its moderator was interviewed on the Nano Site. It's called "Diving Deeper In" and I joined it yesterday. There's a meditative aspect to the way they get at unlocking the words, and last night I did a recommended exercise on a different site: The Work of Byron Katie. I chose my former employers as a good Neighbor to Judge, and the results were very enlightening to me, in ways I might go into another time. I highly recommend your taking a look at this, though, no matter what your circumstances.
But for now, Blessed Advent to all, thanks again for the prayers and good wishes.
The main thing I got out of the trip, though, was a confirmation that this is the man, and by extension, the family I'm supposed to be with. It's not just fuzzy feelings, though of course I have those too. It's seeing how we work together as partners in mundane ways. And being able to see ourselves as older people like his folks, taking care of each other, years from now. And it's seeing how we three fit together in a family context.
It was weird being the one returning to CVG airport, not the one waiting for the passenger to make it through the endless terminals from the gates.
And now to the soul crushing process of figuring out what to do next with my life here. I have a few leads but no interviews lined up yet. I suspect I won't get much until after the first of the year-- this time of year sucks for job hunting. So to stave off natural depression in the situation I have been trying to do things to get myself out of the house. We attended the last write ins for Nano. Neither of us made our goals. But Wee Hob got a total of 3096 words of his story and some poetry, which is huge for him. If he had worked every day consistently, he could easily have made his goal, and he is planning on trying again next year. My goal was 100 words every day, but I missed the day I lost my job, and on Thanksgiving itself I only managed 95. I got to 17293, myself (though the Nano site has it at 17,291-- must have mis-typed. Ah well.)
I also noticed a a writing community on Gaia-- its moderator was interviewed on the Nano Site. It's called "Diving Deeper In" and I joined it yesterday. There's a meditative aspect to the way they get at unlocking the words, and last night I did a recommended exercise on a different site: The Work of Byron Katie. I chose my former employers as a good Neighbor to Judge, and the results were very enlightening to me, in ways I might go into another time. I highly recommend your taking a look at this, though, no matter what your circumstances.
But for now, Blessed Advent to all, thanks again for the prayers and good wishes.
