Bouce Back From Anything

"Bounce Back From Anything: The new science of success"

This promise, um I mean article title, comes from the most recent issue of Reader's Digest. When I saw this article on the cover, it felt auspicious! I immediately flipped open to this feature topic, furtively read through each failure and success story, and quickly realized how completely stupid I am.

The thing is that my own personal great depression is simultaneously occurring with the worst recession...well, since the real Great Depression. And it is simply so easy to forget that I am not the only person that has fallen on hard times.

But I digress. The premise of the article is that there truly is a silver lining to not only hard economic times, but just life challenges in general. Science says so.

The article is interesting, and the real life experiences add a nice dimension (interesting fact: stories from both individuals near my hometown in Ohio AND from Norfolk, VA). But the best part of the article? The opening paragraph that talks about a lecture J.K. Rowling gave recently.

"When author J.K. Rowling addressed the graduating class at Harvard last June, she didn't focus on success. Instead she spoke about failure. She related a story about a young woman who gave up her dream of writing novels to study something more practical. Nonetheless, she ended up as an unemployed single mom 'as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless.' But during this rock-bottom time, she realized she still had a wonderful daughter, an old typewriter, and an idea that would become the foundation for rebuilding her life. Perhaps you've heard of Harry Potter?"

Now if that isn't inspiring, I don't know what is.

Back in the Bus

Cbus, that is. I have been back in Columbus for two months now. Everything happened so fast...I am only now starting to realize the magnitude of all the change.

After almost four years living in Virginia, I am back in the great state of Ohio. Ironically, it didn't feel like a choice to come back so much as a shove from the universe.

*My last day of work (I got laid off)? January 31, 2009
*My last day on my lease? January 31, 2009
*My last day on my vehicle registration in VA? January 31, 2009

When something is over, it is really over.

Alas, I am picking up the pieces of a crazy year. One that included 5 moves (2 state to state), two deaths, and a big break-up. Oh and I lost my job.

But all that happened in Virginia! Back in Columbus, I live with 4 roommates in a beautiful old house in the monumental Victorian Village and miraculously landed a job as an office manager at OSU Medical Center. I say miraculous because I ended up only having two weeks of official unemployment.

However, I am finding that "new" hasn't filled in the cracks yet. New geography, new job, and new faces have initially only added up to new stress. Regardless, come along for the ride of my new life- repairs, adventures, and heartaches are certain to surface on the path!