June 5, 2012

Real Life

It's been a while.  Let me tell you why.

After I left the Appalachian Trail, it took some mental adjustments to get on track with the reality that being a post-college adult brings.  In looking for full-time employment, I realized that there weren't any arts organization lined up outside my door with pen and paper in hand, ready to employ me.  In fact, nine months later there still haven't been any even as I show up at their doors.

I was working part-time at Faang Thai Restaurant in Warrenton and it wasn't looking like they were going to be giving me any more shifts, although I had been promoted to bartender.  I began looking for another serving job in Warrenton that would actually employ me full-time; that's when God sent one to me.  A waiter from another restaurant and his girlfriend were in my bar one day and admired my work ethic, which lead to an interview at Forlano's Market in The Plains, just north of Warrenton.  I was brought on as the lunch waiter after I told my new boss I would be on time every day.  After I showed basic math skills in conjunction with the ability to show up on time consistently, I was brought on as the Catering & Office Manager.  That particular job has been a challenge, but overall it has been rewarding and a very valuable professional experience.

All that to say: real life ain't college.  College, I have learned, was an elevated form of life for me as an 98% pure extrovert; I was constantly around other people, especially good friends who were either next door or a phone call and five minute walk away.  I thrived very easily in that.

Fast forward to real life.  I live in the middle of 10 acres, the smaller of several of the adjacent lots.  There are no windows on the side of the house that actually faces the closest neighbor.  It is a 20 minutes drive into my hometown that has approximately 8 other people my age.  I drive 28 minutes through farmland to get to a town of 285 people where I am 1 of 5 full time staff members in a small restaurant.

The point:  I have to work harder at real life.  That means it takes much more for me to blog or practice guitar or write songs or generally do the things that really enrich my life creatively.  I thank God that I've still been in the Word on a regular basis and that I've been actively reading books to widen and deepen my knowledge of the world and how the smart people of this age think, as well as helping out with the High Schoolers at my church twice a week.  It's only been in the past few months that I've begun to really recapture guitar; and only tonight that I've attempted to recapture blogging.

I've been maturing through paying my own bills, working anywhere between 35-50 hours a week, and dealing with difficult situations at work that are entirely my fault.  I think that it is difficult for anyone to actively pursue a creative passion; as least those who are built like me, where accountability is often a key motivator.  Without grades or people to report to, my practicing and writing can go by the wayside.  But these are things that I want to honor God with, and I would say that it is my duty to develop them and honor God with whatever abilities he's planted in me.  Otherwise I would be squandering his gifts.  And I don't want to do that.

More to come.  I've got a lot to tell you about.





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