Yesterday I joined the ranks of the voluntarily unemployed.  Who’s that, I hear you ask.  Those are the people who have quit their jobs for the sake of chasing their dreams.  They are the people who grew tired of slaving away every day for a pay cheque, slowly losing touch with themselves and everything they love along the way.  They are people who want to try something new, who want to feel alive again, who want to make a contribution, who want to bring change.  I am now one of them.

I was strange, yesterday, not leaving the house with my wife.  It was stranger still when I visited the school to drop something off, seeing someone else sitting behind my desk, chatting with my former boss, no longer as employee.  I made sure I was in and out before break, lest the kids see me and start shouting as they’re prone to do.  I spent the day walking where I wanted to go – there was no need to rush.

I have enough to do, mind you.  The plan for this year involves writing two novels, getting started on my Master’s degree and starting a non-profit company, so I’ll probably be busier than I was as a teacher, but I’ll be doing things I love, things that fulfil me, so I won’t mind.  My success or failure will be determined by the amount of effort I put in, not by whether I can convince a bunch of teenagers to study for a test.

Right now, though, I’m feeling like the proverbial puppy that managed to catch the car it was chasing.  I have all this time on my hands and so many ideas what to do with it that I don’t quite know where to start.  I guess I’ll have to apply the old wisdom contained in the riddle: How do you eat an elephant?

Answer:  One bite at a time.

• Musings