Fall Back Position

I had a stressful sleep last night. Yes, I believe that the full moon impacts sleep cycles and it’s scheduled to rise, round and yellow on Saturday. That aside though, I lay awake wondering how I’d cram everything I need to do this morning into the few hours we have before leaving for a doctor’s appointment an hour away and then going to see my sister, who lives an hour in another direction. It’s all manageable; it’s simply that like the shadows in the bedroom, things grow large and insurmountable after midnight, when in the light of day they shrink to life size. Nonetheless, I’m tired this morning.

Part of the reason for the tossing, turning and pillow-pounding is that my former employer had another layoff at the beginning of the week and I’ve been in touch with one of those affected. While I am more than two months beyond it and see a clear picture of at least part of my next career path (you are reading it), I feel her pain. Or, perhaps it’s that I feel a shadow of my own hurt, and I don’t wish that on anyone. Meanwhile, my “former employer” alumni network on LinkedIn reports ongoing senior level hiring at the old company, and I wonder, cynically it must be stated, how many laid off district managers add up to two new Senior Vice Presidents? Enough said. No need to go down that path, other than to say I’m sure they are doing what they believe must be done in order to save the company--and since I own stock it is in my best interest that they succeed.

So, on the not impossible list of things to accomplish this morning before driving up the highway: a networking letter to a kind person who emailed in response to my Boston Globe article. For the millionth time I’ll say, you never do know when a networking opportunity will come up--but I guess if you broadcast your jobless status across the entire region, you may be more likely to get a bite. Hmmm, does anyone know how one goes about hiring a plane to fly a banner? Seriously though, reaching out in this specific way wasn’t in the plan when I wrote that story five weeks ago, but I’m all about looking on the positive side these days. Fingers crossed that in some regard it pans out.

If not, and worse comes to worse, I have a mainstream publication to add to my novice writer’s resume, which works just fine for me.