Transitions take years to materialize

I've been on a transformation journey for seven years

Photo by Katrina Wright on Unsplash

Recently, I had to embrace a cold hard fact. It’s time to embrace transition. We often think that transitions are a reaction to change. You’re told that the company is downsizing, and that leads you into a spiral because you know that it means potential layoffs, and financial change that either you’re not prepared for or scared of. Or, transitions can happen as it happened to me - I left my house one winter day, slipped on ice, and spent the next 6 months relearning how to bend my knees, walk, sit down, use the toilet unassisted, and a series of other “firsts” that I never in a million years thought would happen to me. This was instant change. Unexpected. Unwanted. Unanticipated. And it left me a cane (I call him Henry) that meant I also needed to transition to identifying as a disabled person.

Seven months after my injury, I wrote an op-ed for the New York Times.

A day a so later, someone from my current employer emailed me to ask how I did this, and they gently wanted me to know that “I should check in with them first before doing this kind of thing.” I was shocked by this email. I politely replied and said of course, next time I will let them know, but inside I thought, something is not right here.

Why should I check in with someone at my employer before doing something that

1) I am fully capable of doing on my own;

2) I was asked to write through a publisher, not an employer

This was the moment I began to realize - I am going to have to keep growing and creating or forces will ensure that they have control over my progress.

I began to realize that I need to continually transform myself. I need to embrace transitions. I need to do the things that people least expect me to do.

I will “check in” with no one.

I was born to be an educator, so my calling is not about a pay cheque or seeking approval from people outside of myself. My only check in is with myself. To remember who I am and my desire to perpetually grow and create new experiences for myself and others.

And so as I embark on this next transition, I plan to share short stories about my journey, as I know sharing my story will help someone release the story they’re telling themselves about what they can or cannot do.