Helter-Skelter

My obsessive winter blogging has been replaced by apartment gardening, a new puppy, Sushi Monday,  making art with a 13-year-old, and summer. 

Last week, I had my last day as an art teacher at the museum, and now I move on to other things. I have felt for a long time that it was time to move on, but at the end of the day I cried. For every early morning, frustrating class, and monotonous lesson there was an equal and opposite grateful student, exciting exhibition and happy day. For every day I came home emotionally and physically exhausted, there was a day or two or ten that I woke up excited to put in a full and passionate day's work. 

Tomorrow I start my new job as a copywriter at Boostability in Orem. No more traveling, no more classrooms, no more museum, no more art. I am characteristically nervous about what this life change brings, but this quote from Into the Wild says it best: 

“Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty.” 

― Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

Although switching to an office job is probably not quite what Alex Supertramp had in mind, it's baby steps, right? 

I'm just going to be honest and say that if I could have found another job at an art museum, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. But the chances of that happening are less likely than me winning the Super Bowl. There are two museums in Utah County, and I just left one of them...and they don't have any other job openings. While I am passionate about writing and excited for this new step, I hope to one day return to an art museum, where my soul is exhilarated and my lifelong love of art exists. 

Until then, bring on the adventure of life!