faulker076

January 28, 2012 I’m here. I’m in New York. I did it.  "Start spreading the news..."  Goodbye Philly: I spent my last 72 hours in Philadelphia purging; it was far more draining than I’d anticipated. I expected a spiritual cleansing process where I lit candles, did an om chant and ceremoniously parted with tokens from my past, to make a symbolic clearing for a bright new future. Instead, I panicked. I clung to everything in sight and snapped back into the 10-year old pack-rat I used to be.  A battle with close friends (whose help I enlisted in case such a flashback took place) ensued when I tried to rationalize why it was imperative that I keep 1994 newspaper articles about the Chicago Bulls, a shoebox for every pair of shoes I owned, and the bib from my first race. ( I won the bib argument). You know how they say, "easier said than done." Boy, oh boy, did I think packing would be different. After hours of emotional breakdowns, nostalgia, painful goodbyes, and a...

January 26, 2012 Tonight was my going away happy hour.  Sometimes I don't realize just how loved I am. People from every aspect of my Philly life came out. Wow.  At one point I looked around and realized the entire bar was filled with guests of mine. Why me? A truly humbling evening. Everyone wished me well and imparted priceless wisdom, words of encouragement and some laughs. They looked at me with admiration, fear, pride, vulnerability and gentleness. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people behave this way. I am so fortunate. Is this one of the gifts I can explore when I start on the entrepreneurship journey- connecting with people? If so, I want to understand it better to know exactly how to maximize it.  I now understand that the process of figuring this out is exactly what life is supposed to be about. Its hard to explain. The answer is almost irrelevant. The answer is already known; the path is left to be seen and that's what I must focus on. I’m excited to e...

January 25, 2012 FB Status: "Last day of work… whoa. This is really happening, huh. ::gulp::" On my phone today, there is a calendar reminder: “Last day working for another person! Hallelujah!” It seems like I have been counting down to this day forever. I've often wondered what the day would feel like- would there be tears? Last minute panic? Frustration? Anxiety? Joy? Serenity? The truth is not much of that happened.  There were definitely spurts of emotion here and there, but there are so many damn logistics to take care of before leaving a position (insurance closeout, retirement, key return, office packing, goodbye cards, final meetings, distribution of stuff I don’t want, trashing, trashing, trashing, etc.)  it was difficult to do much reflecting. For the most part, I was more busy than pensive; more preoccupied than emotional. I had envisioned a theatrical departure where I tipped my hat to my colleagues and imparted words of wisdom while fighting back tears...