One Year Anniversary

My last day of employment was one year ago today. I had accepted a position with a start up environmental organization after four years with a professionally rewarding but very stressful company. I came into that start up with such enthusiasm for I had finally landed a job where I could play a role in preserving our natural habitats. As with many new organizations, enthusiasm doesn't always result in financial sustainability and within a year, I found myself unemployed.

But this isn't a tale of regret for making a questionable career move. Within a week after my final day, I found myself back in college taking an ecology class. For the first time since completing my bachelor's degree years ago, I threw myself into my course work: writing papers, conducting lab experiments, studying for tests and going on field trips. I made friends with a bright young woman who knowledge of biology just astounded me. She became my lab partner and in her, I found someone with the same drive for knowledge that I had.

During that semester, I volunteered with the local conservation district, surveying and removing invasive plant species. The hours spent there gave me the opportunity to attend my first stewardship conference where I was immersed with people who committed their lives to protecting the environment. I learned about watersheds and wild rice restoration projects, nature photography and new conservation initiatives. For the first time in years, I was excited to go to a conference rather than going because I needed the continuing education credits.

I took out my camera for the first time in ages and started to learn all its features. I took day trips to photograph the wildflowers that had come into bloom. My wildlife books that had sat unopened for months were now used daily. Attending to my backyard feeders brought a variety of new bird species that I had not seen before. I became fascinated with the exotic world of insects and mushrooms.

What I have found is that sometimes you need to experience loss in order to find your way. It hasn't been an easy year for I have often found myself disconnected from the world I once lived in. But by losing my job, I had the time to develop my photography skills that allows me to document my time outdoors for others to see. I've replaced tedious conferences on tax planning with webinars on water quality and wildlife care so that I can make better decisions that impact the world around me. And that love of the out-of-doors, formerly an once-a-year vacation experience is now part of my daily routine. So, on those not so great days when regret rears its head, I can remind myself of all the great experiences that I would have missed had I not chosen to take that job.