2023 - Beginnings: Fountains and Sunrises

Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.
The wild animals honor me,
    the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
    the people I formed for myself
    that they may proclaim my praise.

Isaiah 43:18-21

The lookout from the Wild Horse Monument,
overlooking the Columbia River and Vantage, WA

I was originally planning on going with a sunrise theme here, but the above verse has been on my mind, and it uses a different metaphor. Both work. Tomorrow will be one month since we got the life-changing news that Wireless Advocates is no more. I wrote about it at that time here. Next week will be 5 years since I was hired permanent. Our colleagues around the country suddenly lost their jobs, and those of us at the national headquarters continue to work on wrapping things up with the business before our jobs end next month.

This has been an interesting month. Between tasks related to closing the business, we have been working on job search, updating our resumes, updating LinkedIn, and more. I have been deeply impressed how some of the most helpful people on our team have been managers around the country who lost their job last month, but are rallying around the 1800+ employees who have lost, or will soon lose, their jobs, keeping us encouraged, motivated, positive, and even excited about new possibilities. As difficult as this period of loss has been, it has been a beautiful thing to watch. Our team at national headquarters is closer than ever, as we are all in the same boat.

Skykomish River
near Gold Bar, WA

I have mentioned my awesome friends Kim and Jason Kotecki in previous blogs. One thing they have encouraged in their motivational movement Escape Adulthood is a change from the traditional idea of New Years Resolutions. People often resolve to lose weight, get organized, any number of things. They might buy a gym membership, go once or twice, and give up. I actually cancelled my gym membership last month because I almost never went, and it ended up being a monthly bill I got nothing for. That is not to say I'm not working on losing weight; I have been working on it since 2020, and have lost just over 100 pounds since then. I still have a ways to go, but I'm more than halfway there! (I recommend Noom if that's an issue for you. You can tell them I sent you.)

Instead of resolutions we may or may not keep, Kim and Jason recommend coming up with a word for the year. The first year I did it, my word was Ooze. First of all, I love that word. It's fun to say. People generally think of oozing goo, but you can also ooze joy, ooze love, ooze any number of things. It doesn't have to be gooey or mushy. In 2020, my word was Vision. (Get it? 2020 Vision?) I don't do a word every year (I didn't have one last year), but in light of recent events, I have decided to go with "Beginnings" or "Sunrise" for this year. In the above verses, I normally only hear verse 19 (the part about doing a new thing). But just now looking at the passage, the verses around it are also important. Though we should learn from the past, it is in the past and there's nothing we can do about it...so it isn't a good idea to dwell on it. Jackals and owls are generally nocturnal, and jackals in particular are known for scavenging. Anubis, an ancient Egyptian god of the dead, was represented as a jackal. In CS Lewis' The Horse and His Boy, the graveyard outside Tashbaan has jackals prowling nearby. At one point Aslan protects Shasta from them (though at the time Shasta doesn't know the identity of the cat protecting him). In the sequel The Silver Chair (which has a fleeting reference to The Horse and His Boy), Jill and Eustace are helped by owls, but they are most helpful at night. In the Harry Potter books, owls deliver mail. I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with that, but those are my thoughts on jackals and owls.

In any case, even in the most desolate of deserts and circumstances, God provides water and other things needed, both to humans and to wild animals. Just as a spring of water bubbles and froths excitedly, we can look to the future with joy and eager anticipation, even if everything around us looks grim and hopeless. Sometimes it seems counterintuitive, but an optimistic outlook can work wonders.

Clark Fork River
near Superior, MT

With my goal of Beginnings this year, I am looking forward to seeing what wondrous thing God has for me. I started this blog in 2010, but have been fairly irregular in posting. The past couple weeks, starting with my reblogs of my All Things Broadway posts, I have been working on posting daily. I am hoping to keep that up and develop this into a more regular blog. I don't know exactly what direction that will take, but we will see. I am also exploring my options on the employment front. I'm excited to see what amazing new possibilities are bubbling "just around the riverbend," to quote Pocahontas. 

As my friends Kim and Jason like to say, "Now that this has happened, what does it make possible?" At the risk of mixing metaphors, what joyful spring of water will be bubbling and frothing as the sun rises on my next chapter? Is there an awesome proverbial geyser in my future? I can't wait to find out!

Here's to new beginnings joyfully springing up as a beautiful sunrise dawns over the horizon!

Sunrise over Lake Michigan
Sheboygan, WI

Sunrise over Lake Michigan
(and a raccoon if you look closely)
Sheboygan, WI

The Sun Sets on Wireless Advocates

Friday, March 31, 2017. I had finished a day of work, and was proud of my accomplishments of the day. I was in a long-term contract position at a medical supplies company, and my performance was better that week than it had ever been. So it was a bit of a shock when I got out to my car and listened to my voicemail. It was my agency alerting me that my contract had ended. No warning, just "Today was your last day." The agency was as surprised as I was, as the feedback from the company they had received had always been positive. There were tears.

Fast-forward a couple weeks. My agency found a temporary position at a company called Wireless Advocates, which managed wireless kiosks in Costco and on military bases. I had done a short-term job there back in 2011, so it was a return of sorts. It was set to last 3-4 weeks, as they needed some help processing orders. April 2017 became May, which became June, and so on... To make a long story short, after multiple extensions to the 3-4-week job, during which time I was trained on more responsibilities than what was originally included in my job description, my manager offered me a permanent position. It was my first permanent job after years of temping. In one previous job, I was told they would have hired me permanent, but that company had recently been acquired, and due to the uncertainty of the merger process, they couldn't promise that it would be long term. (In fact, I worked in three departments as departments relocated to other states.) In my position that I lost in 2017, they even considered me for a permanent position.

So it was that in January 2018, I began a permanent position at the national headquarters of Wireless Advocates in Seattle, working with the most amazing manager I have ever worked with. Our team has been like a family. Through ups and downs and challenges over the years, my manager and team have always been there. We have supported each other, and I have often wondered what I did to be on such an amazing team, where I could get help from anyone, and offer help back when they needed it. I have thrived in this position in ways that have surprised me. I have loved working with customers and associates around the country. In March of 2020, as we were realizing more and more the massive ramifications of the COVID pandemic, our office transitioned to working from home. The new arrangements provided new challenges, but our team maintained regular contact and remained as cohesive as ever. Working from home has also been a surprising blessing as I have been caring for my parents over the past few years. We lost my dad to a stroke last December, just over a year ago, and I have continued to care for my mom since then. It has been nice to be able to be able to assist when they need help during breaks and lunches. When I was done with my work day, I was already home, so didn't need to take time for the commute home. I have loved being able to give my all to my job, while also being available for family when they need help. During this time, I have also learned that I have ADHD, which has been a big help in managing challenges I have faced all my life, but only in the past few years have I started putting it together and gotten checked for it. (It also explains some challenges that I encountered in my previous job, and it would have been useful to know at that time.) My manager has done an amazing job of working with this knowledge, leveraging my strengths and working with my weaknesses. This has challenged me to work harder to be the best I can be.

Enter another shock. Yesterday we learned that the company is closing down. Wireless kiosks around the country are closed, and we at the national headquarters will be here for two more months. This is the second time I have been at a company that has shut down (the previous time was due to the company being acquired by a competitor). I truly feel for all my associates around the country who are now searching for a job. Despite the difficulty of the circumstances, particularly this time of the year, I have been deeply impressed with our management, and our team is becoming even more cohesive as our time at the company comes to an end. Though we at headquarters have a job for a couple months yet, we are starting to search now. During my spare time, I have been working on updating my resume.

I don't know what is on the horizon, but in my experience, shocking endings have led to new beginnings that I never would have predicted. In retrospect, as difficult as it was to lose my previous job, I realize that if I had not lost it right then, I would not have been available at just the right time for this "3-4 week" position that ended up turning into a permanent position working for and with the most amazing manager and team of my career thus far. If it were not for the horrible blow our nation and the world received at the beginning of 2020, we would not have started working from home, and I would not have been as available to help my parents as they have needed more assistance, while still being able to do as much as I have for a job that I love. Of course, that is not to minimize the heavy losses we have all sustained over the past few years. These have been difficult and devastating times for everyone.

My friend Jason Kotecki is an artist and motivational speaker. He had a syndicated cartoon in the newspapers a few years ago called Kim & Jason, with characters loosely based on his wife Kim and himself as children, in addition to other family members. Since 2000, they have waged a campaign to fight the menace of adultitis, that villain that robs people of their sense of child-like wonder and curiosity as they get older. I highly recommend checking them out at escapeadulthood.com. One thing Jason likes to ask is, "Now that this has happened, what does it make possible?" They have had their own set of challenges that at the time were horrifying (you can read about some of them here, here, here, here and here.) His challenge has been a massive help to me in this time of uncertainty and as I reflect back on difficult times that have ended up leading to surprising silver linings.

I don't know what the future holds, but I trust God to lead me, and I look forward to whatever is on the horizon.

I took this picture in 2019 from the roof of our building. At the time I didn't consider how much of an encouragement it would be, but a sunset is a beautiful thing. It symbolizes an end, but as the last rays of the sun paint a colorful canvas on the sky, we know that a new day is coming and the sun will rise again.

I took the following pictures last year of sunrise over Lake Michigan in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. (I call the first one Crouching Sunrise, Hidden Raccoon. Extra credit if you can find the raccoon!) Will the proverbial sunrise that follows the sunset of Wireless Advocates look something like this? Only time will tell, but I look forward to finding out!

To my colleagues around the country, it has truly been an honor and pleasure working with you. I wish you the best as you search for your sunrise. I know whatever companies you work for next will have acquired some amazing new talent that will help them thrive!