A newly empty nest…

A job furloughed that may or may not open back up…

A dance studio where your favorite teacher left…

A church you no longer feel connected to…

A curriculum that doesn’t click with the kids…

Something that used to be your passion but now makes your eyelid twitch…

Seasons are a part of life. But sometimes knowing it’s the end of a season is the easy part.
The harder thing is trying to figure out what’s next, and to walk into it without fear or guilt. (in my life, guilt is the much bigger struggle)

In nature, season changes are usually gradual. (Unless it’s 2006 in Buffalo, when the Columbus Day storm graced us with 22 inches of snow that paralyzed the city and ended up causing our car to get totaled.) In Florida, we know that lovebugs are a sign that the temperatures are going to start shifting, and the rainy days are either coming in or going out (depending on if it’s May or September). In Buffalo, the beautiful fall foliage reminded us to get outside as much as we could before we started hibernating.

I wonder if we have similar hints in our lives, but we haven’t gotten as good at figuring them out.
For example…
Last spring I was feeling incredibly burned out. The dance studio where I ran the front desk was stressful (it was time to measure all the kids and start ordering costumes), the kids needed more from me with school, and my health was suffering. I was counting down the hours until spring break started.
Little did I know that Spring Break would last forever….

As the weeks dragged on living at home, I knew very clearly that the fall was going to look very different for our family. I knew my job at the front desk was over, my son realized he was only dancing because his sisters were, and my eldest daughter started getting more interested in drawing and acting than in dance.
And my middle daughter started taking private ballet classes through Zoom and found her passion…

I wish I had solid advice on this. I wish this wasn’t what I was still working on in my own world.
But the best I can suggest is this:
keep taking one day at a time. Spend time figuring out what direction you should be facing right now, and do that. Don’t try to figure out the ultimate destination. It just causes a ridiculous amount of stress.
I talked in my last post about how I knew my time as a photographer was behind me. I still haven’t figured out what my next venture is. For now, it’s focusing on the kids and making sure they’re getting the time and energy they need to for school and life. At some point I may find a new business idea or passion I want to run with, but today, right now, my job is to be there to help my kids with their math, to finish last year’s history curriculum, and to teach them their musical intervals.

 

Do you have more solid advice than I do? Does this resonate, either with life right now or in the past?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!
 
charla@charmboxstudios.com

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