In thinking about this major change in our lives I find myself torn between the idea that what we did was remarkable and the thought that what we did was nothing much. Was it really a leap of faith? Was it something that took courage?
Maybe it would help for me to list the changes we've made.
1. We both quit our jobs. I stepped away from a career that was just beginning, from my first professional position, the first job after receiving my Master's degree, the first job in which I was paid more than a pittance. Paul stepped away from a 15-year career in telecommunications, from a job in which he knew what was expected of him. A job that supported his growing family, provided retirement income, excellent benefits, college savings for our children, investment funds. We both stepped away from all of that to careers that meant a complete shift in focus, that required us to learn something new. For Paul it was a career that depended upon his pursuit of further education at a time when he wasn't even sure he could get in to graduate school.
It also meant that our family income would be cut by 50%. Between the reduction in his salary (academics pays much less than industry) and the loss of mine completely (at first--I do work now but for about a third of what I made before), we would be bringing in half what we were before. Add to that more expensive (and not as good) health insurance and the loss of stock options, plus the additional expense of out-of-state graduate school tuition.
2. We sold our house. Our first house. A house we loved in a neighborhood we loved. A house in which we had invested considerable time (and money). A 2000 square foot brick house with an acre of woods, mature landscaping, big kitchen, fireplace, three bedrooms plus an office, all within walking distance to the grocery store, close to everything we could need.
3. We moved across the state. From a region with a population of close to 1 million people to a region with a population of fewer than 50,000. From a region filled with diverse and educated people (the Triangle region boasts the most PhDs per square mile than anywhere in, what?, the Southeast?) to one that is...well, largely white, Christian, heterosexual, working class (not that there's anything wrong with any of that). From an area replete with opportunities to shop-o-tain (from Whole Foods to Saks to Target to whatever one would want) and dine-o-tain (from California Pizza Kitchen to PF Chang's to Macaroni Grill to whatever one would want) to a town where there is one Chinese restaurant, one Mexican restaurant, a spate of fast food places, two grocery stores (one of which is a nasty, depressing Food Lion, the other the only one of the local chain that has not been remodeled) and one Wal-mart. Only.
4. We left our friends. We left our church. Skilled doctors (and pharmacists) who knew us. Routines. A network of familiar faces and places.
5. We bought a new house in a rural area. A drafty not-very-well-built log house which has a significantly smaller kitchen, smaller living space, fewer overall square feet, very little storage, no landscaping, a dirt road and driveway, a hay field on one side and corn field on another.
6. We started trying to live more simply--eating at home more, shopping less, being more frugal with our money overall, growing more of our own food, living closer to our genuine values, spending more time with family, spending more time together, getting outdoors more.
7. We went from a regular 9-5 (plus overtime) schedule with two weeks of vacation a year to a much more flexible and varied schedule that includes summers off, Fall break, Spring break, and three to four weeks at Christmas.
Is that it? Is that all? Looking back on all of this, listing it out in such a way, I can see that we did was pretty remarkable, it was a leap of faith, a leap into the unknown, a huge change in very nearly every aspect of our lives. We really did something here. I'm proud of us for that.
Tomorrow: How were we able to do this? What helped us to make such a change?
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Today I am thankful for...
Paul. For taking this leap with me. For making our lives an adventure.
For making sure that whatever happens, whatever we do--it is together.
