I’ve always loved beginnings. There is magic there, in opening a new door, proverbial or literal. Unfortunately, I’ve been hitting my face on the door for a long time now, and when I finally stepped back (because, ow! that hurts!), I saw the doorknob. And it was shiny. Very shiny. I really wanted to turn it.
Flash forward: It’s taken me almost 5 years to turn the doorknob. I’m turning it as we speak because I’ve just resigned from my job. My very stable, benefits enrolled, socially acceptable job. After obtaining two bachelors degrees and a masters in Education, I am walking away, simply not returning, for another year of being an early childhood educator. After teaching preschool in 4 different settings, I came to the shocking realization that THIS ISN’T WORKING anymore. It wasn’t sustainable for my mental health, and perhaps someone else could do it better than I. (This thought is still hard to stomach, because don’t we all want to be the best at our given profession?)
I will not take this first post to tell you the myriad reasons why I am leaving this job (with lovely wonderful people committed to the growth and well being of children with special needs and in crisis. Shout out! You are the hardest workers!). This space now exists to tell you why it’s okay to make a change like this. Why it’s okay to go to school for 7 years and then decide that you just want to be an innkeeper, or a beekeeper, or a keeper of anything else than what you originally had planned. Why it’s okay to forge your own path, and ignore anyone who deems it socially unacceptable to choose SOMETHING ELSE.
So I’m still turning the doorknob. I have not one clue as to what lies behind this door, but I feel hands at my back and support that makes this decision not easy, but the right one. There is though, a small buzzing, a hum, that is getting louder. It’s warm in my ear and in my heart. This makes me think that there is swift movement coming my way and that the years I’ve spent cradling other peoples’ little babes, has not been in vain. I’m not turning the doorknob because it is shiny. I’m turning it because there is nothing else I can do now that I’ve stepped back and seen the whole door. In all honesty, even if the doorknob was old and rusty, I’d turn it anyway.
So enough with analogies about doors and open hearts and trusting the universe and every other thing someone leaving their job has said. I have to go figure out what to do with 3 degrees and 2 teaching licenses. Maybe place mats would be nice.
xo.
