The Art of Changing Directions



"Spilling/Spinning" - Brandon Boyd

I found the above image in an Internet search related to "art" and "changing directions." At first, I didn't know how it related to the theme I wanted to write about today--I just fell in love with the elegance and fluidity of the piece. But after staring at it for a while, I'm beginning to wonder if there's not something to be said here about suddenly changing directions and immediately finding yourself both blind and mute, at a loss of your senses, and yet accepting it as temporary payment for the gains the change in direction provides.

Something about the way the subject casually holds her cigarette while her eyes are covered and her mouth is full tells us that she expects her situation to be only fleeting--she'll have her senses back soon enough. Further, her lack of alarm communicates that she expected her losses all along. Is this a reflection of faith--expecting something good will come out of something lost? Or is it more of a yin/yang thing; an exchange of loss for an exchange of gain?

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It's been 9 months since I've posted an entry and a lot has changed in that time. After taking a hard look at our life goals (having children, saving for retirement, more time for recreating) and contrasting them with our current reality, my husband and I realized we needed to make some big life changes. And when I say big, I mean BIG.

"Little House on the Prairie" - Jim Lamb

Gone now is the struggling home business; hello full-time job with medical benefits and retirement. Of course, securing that job meant selling our home and moving away from the little town we've grown to love. So also gone is the little house and garden on Prairie Street and our quiet, small-town life. We've replaced that, with no small amount of grumbling on my part, with a newer rental house in the suburbs with zero maintenance.

"Leisure Time"  - Dominique Amendola

Life is completely different. We have economic stability now, a plan for the future, and room for a family. We're also closer to our parents and siblings, which brings its own pluses and minuses into the mix. And without the two huge time drains of a home that needed near constant maintenance, and a business that needed near constant nurturing, we find that we have much more leisure time. In a very real sense, we have lined up our lives and have met our goals within the span of just a few months. Quite the accomplishment, really.

So what have we given up for these goals? Well, like the girl in the artwork above, we knew there would be losses. Our beloved home was one of the biggest. A close second was the sense of independence offered by owning our own business. We got a lot of satisfaction out of growing and nurturing both and the successes and failures of these endeavors made up a big part of our personal identities.

"Art Goals"  - Rachel M. Cotton

But though our big life changes came with these losses, we knew they would be only temporary, soon to be replaced by the gains we received by meeting our goals. And though I think the gains and losses might currently be balanced, I believe we are now better situated to turn some of those losses into opportunities. And what more can you ask out of life than that?

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So how does all this relate to the purpose of this blog? Well, I initially believed that our moving away from our small town life and getting full-time jobs meant the end of this blog. After all, I won't have as many opportunities to talk about writing, baking, sewing and all the "simple life" things that I so associate with my grandparents.

"Simple Pleasures" - Renee Dawson

But after some further pondering, I realized that none of those "simple life" values I so cherish in my grandparents have changed for me since our move. In fact, they've only become heightened as I'm doing them not so much out of necessity, but out of desire. That's a big distinction for me, and one I'd like to explore.

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How does change play a part in your life? Do you seek out opportunities for change or are you more likely to resist? Why or why not?