Beginnings...

December 29, 2009 - It's 10 degrees (Fahrenheit) outside as I type this, with a wind chill of -7. It's damn cold outside, but warm in the library.

One month ago, I looked my boss in the eye and told her that I just couldn't do it any more. "It" is plodding through another thirty or forty years on a career treadmill that no longer feels so fulfilling and hasn't lived up to its billing. "I'll continue to give you 110%," I said, "but eventually, I have to find something new. I can't do this."

Oh, I can continue to show up to the dance and give it my best, and I intend to. I would never get up every morning with the intention of just putting in the hours and collecting a paycheck. It's not my style. But twenty-five minutes later, after doing what I could to avoid torching that bridge and sending its charred remains to the bottom of the river, I realized that I'd reached the beginning of the end. In that day and many more that followed, I thought about what I'd said and what it meant. The drive that used to propel me through each work day is winding down, and I know in my heart that it's time to take my career in a new direction.

This blog will chronicle my journey.