Dateline: July 31, 2002
As July 31st rolls over to August 1st, my life tends to change direction completely. In 1989, just as I was feeling a sense of comfort and achievement in my relatively new career writing software documentation, I packed everything I owned into a 5×10 foot storage shed, sold my car, and started a new life in Japan, bringing only two large suitcases and my 10-year-old son.
In 1991, I reversed the process. But on my return to the US I had no job prospects, and found that it was more difficult than I had imagined to reestablish my identitify with potential employers, car insurance companies, and banks.
In 1993, I gave up independent contracting and returned to life as a full-time employee to enjoy the comraderie of teamwork and the benefits of medical insurance.
In 1998, JQS moved into the condo that today he is vacating.
In 2001, the patterns and habits of eight years dissolved and I had to create new ones.
Today, exactly a year later, I feel as if the cards in my life’s deck are being reshuffled and redealt. A new life begins for me tomorrow. And although it is what I’ve always wanted, I’ve learned to be wary of getting exactly what I wish for. Fulfilled desires often bring unexpected consequences. As I cross the line, will I arrive at the point of no return?
Dateline: July 31, 2008
Six years have passed and I thought the wheel of my fortune had rusted to a stop from disuse. Slowly, creakily, it begins to turn again. This time I embrace change unreservedly.
Rereading the original entry, I remember another year that fits this pattern: 1975. My father retired from the USAF and we moved back to Las Vegas from Killeen. I discovered that I was stuck between lives and could move neither forward nor back. So I took the diagonal. Are all detours simply tangents? In taking the detour, doesn’t it becomes part of the pathway through our life?