career

I posted the quote above on the day I submitted my letter of resignation and chose to leave the only career I have ever known without a new job in place. I spent the majority of that summer trying to figure out my next steps. Second only to the year of my divorce, 2023 was the scariest year of my life. As a single mother of 3 children (or young adults!), I only have myself to depend on. Without my career in public education I lost my sense of security, my monthly paycheck, my health insurance and honestly, my entire sense of who I was as a human. It’s like I wiped the slate CLEAN and then looked around and said, “What the hell did I just do?” I was TERRIFIED. I cycled through moments of “OMG…abort mission, abort mission…get another job in education!” and “This is the RIGHT decision. You can do this. Keep searching. Keep believing. Have faith. Doors will open.” Let me tell you, it was a tumultuous summer. Believe.

Between hours of searching on Indeed and completing hundreds of applications and uploading resumes, and taking a million deep breaths…I still tried to be a mom and a daughter and a sister and a friend. It was a lot. A LOT. I needed a job to start by September 1st and I needed insurance to start immediately. In the end I was offered a job with a start date of August 29th and health insurance in place immediately. It was almost a miracle. 

Since that time I have had to do a lot of healing. Fortunately for me, my new employer has given me the grace to do so…while kindly not firing me in the process. It has now been almost a year to day since I submitted that letter of resignation. I no longer recognize the person I had become trying to be all things to all people in education. I now have space to breathe…to live…to share. That brings us to The Expectant Voyager.

I wanted to create a space for women to come to relate and feel seen. I know there is a community of women out there who are experiencing so many of the same things I am at 47 years old. Things that often make us feel alone. Whether it be changing careers, raising young adult children, starting to go through menopause, enjoying deep friendships in new ways, supporting aging parents or just living life as a woman…we need community. We need to not feel alone. I hope you find some of that here. I hope I can help support you in ways that encourage you to face the future as an expectant voyager. The definition of expectant is having or showing an excited feeling that something is about to happen, especially something pleasant and interesting. The definition of voyager is a person who makes a long journey to a distant or unknown place. I feel both of these words together define my outlook on what’s to come. No matter where you are on your journey, you are welcome here. Leave a comment or shoot me an email! Welcome!