As I continue to work through finding job (next update tomorrow), one of the things I have begun to grapple with in a serious way is the fact that the chances of a move are climbing higher and higher.
To be honest, I am unsure how I feel about this.
On the one hand of course, a move would certainly not be out of the question. As I have written for some time now, New Home is not really "home" in that sense of the word, merely a place that I have lived for the past 15 years. My roots here, so much as they exist, are pretty shallow: beyond my Iaijutsu dojo and the rabbit shelter, there is little that I would miss about here.
On the other hand, those two items - my dojo and the rabbit shelter - would make the leaving very hard indeed.
Coming back fresh from a training in Iaijutsu, leaving at this moment seems very hard indeed. There is a great deal that I still need to work on that being part of a dojo (instead of being on my own) would benefit me greatly. And Iaijutsu has become a constituent part of my life, not just a hobby or practice that I engage in. To lose the benefit of that direct involvement seems grievous indeed.
I am sure at least one person will ask the question "Could you open a dojo wherever you land?" The question is not quite as simple as that: one does not just "open" a dojo. At best it would start out as "study group", and requires the support of my current Sensei as well as the permission of our headmaster. And, of course, the reality is in that situation, I would have to act as Sensei as well. Which is, frankly, a bit terrifying.
This thought, for all of its implications, has come up before and was something that I gave additional thought to while in Japan (hopefully more on that next week).
The rabbit shelter is a bit more straightforward of course; there are always animal shelters almost anywhere you go that are always looking for volunteers. Still, it is not my shelter that I have spent the last amount of years at. It would just be, well, weird.
I have said for years I think I have one more move in me, but I was hoping (and assuming) that would be back to The Ranch, not to another third location which might end up as a waystation. Which makes me sigh a bit. Moving is not something I really enjoy - although to be fair, the two potential positions both include relocation packages. The only thing worse than moving, I suppose, is having to pay for the move.
But in reality given where we are in the search and interest in positions, it seems that this is a possibility that is going to have to be given some level of consideration. Better to have a clear vision and plan for if and when such a thing happens instead of pretending the thing will not come to pass at all, when all the data to the contrary suggests it is a real possibility.
I was wondering if the possibility of moving might eventually be a consideration. Nobody like to move! It's extremely stressful even under the best of circumstances. As you say, it's definitely best to prepare for it, at least mentally and emotionally.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, this "time" it has been a consideration from the beginning, perhaps unlike my first lay off in 2023. This one is more like my very first layoff in 2009, where after two months of looking and 100 plus resumes sent off in state with almost no traction, the question became "where would we consider moving".
DeleteThe difficulty, of course, is that the places that I might want to be have far less jobs than those places that are less desirable - for example New Jersey has a ton of positions, but I have no desire to live in New Jersey.
Trying to get my head in the right mental space now so it does not come as a shock if it happens. Finding a job here in New Home is not completely off the table, but seems highly unlikely at this point.
I've made a lot of moves over the years but never put much thought into them. There is always some trepidation of moving to a new place where you are unknown, but that has always been tempered by a reason which made me glad to move. In the past, I have been glad to move because I was going closer to my "home", getting out of an ugly urban city and just getting out of a house I had grown to dislike.
ReplyDeleteBut now I live in a house I like, in an area I like, that at least until recent years was close to family and have developed a lot of deep roots in the community. But the town itself isn't the greatest but it is the best for my wife's career so I guess I can't rule out a move in the future.
In all my moves, the hardest part has been always making the decision. Once that has been made, I generally look forward to the process. I like starting clean, exploring my new surroundings, unpacking and setting up in a new house that is hopefully better than the last.
Ed, your post made think a a lot about our moves over the years. I originally lived the first 18 years of my life in the same place (in the same house), but then went away for college, came back home, went away for college again, came back home after graduation, went away for graduate school, moved back to my home town, then moved to where my career started, then to our first home and then our second home in Old Home, then here - with a final move to where we now are. That is a lot, when I think about it.
DeleteTo be completely honest, other than the reasons I gave above, moving would not be the worst end game here. There is something about relocating that can give one the sense of a fresh start.
I'm 61 years old and have only moved three times (so far). College was 1st, 2nd was returning home and 3rd is to our home with wife, now nearly 27 years. Both homes are separated by about 12 miles. Yeah, my roots are pretty deep here. It would take a lot to move now.
ReplyDeleteAnon, as related above in response to Ed, I have moved a lot more than I anticipated or intended. I had always hoped to move back home, but it appears that this may pushed off for yet one more move. Which is not ideal, but at least there is a sense that we would be moving closer to where we want to eventually be.
DeleteAs you say one consolation is the relocation package, that can help a bit TB. Having to move away from your dojo, that will be a trial all right. How far away from your current location are the two possible jobs?
ReplyDeleteNylon12, the relocation package is essential - without it, we cannot afford to move.
DeleteThe dojo move is a trial - but it might be the trial that I need. One of the things that came up during my training (and over the last few months) is that I need to take a more active role in my own training. This might be the thing that forces me to.
The two jobs are literally halfway across the country from where we are - but in the direction we ultimately want to be in. Oddly enough, they are about 3 hours apart in the same state.
We "up and moved" during the pandemic when our daughter had emergency problems with her first pregnancy. They were several states away, no family at all around. We are in our early 60s. It was a wrenching move for my husband, leaving the healthcare job we had both held since the 1980s. I didn't even have time to think about it, was just in full mom/grandma mode. It has been very tough in some ways, but I try to see it as a fresh start, shaking off the old dust (we had lived in our home for 37 years). I honestly think doing it so quickly (less than six weeks) in such an odd time made it easier--everything was surreal.
ReplyDeleteHadassah - That would be difficult to leave somewhere that you had been for so many years (although of course, given the situation, that is what you had to do). We have only been here 15 years and in our house less than that.
DeleteI am not always a fan of change and so am using this period to "accustom" myself to the idea that it is coming - like you, I think if and when it happens, it will be very quick.
In my 20 years in the military, I never enjoyed moving.
ReplyDeleteMay God show you the way and grant you all serenity in what comes, TB.
You all be safe and God bless.
Linda, my mother's brother was in the military and we got to visit them in most of their postings. That would be hard, knowing that in X years one had to move again.
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