Off to Dublin

It's a Saturday morning I'm leaving the wee house with much more than the usual amount of stuff...and for a much longer bit of time. I've been offered a few weeks of work at a national radio station in Dublin and am off to see where that leads. Three weeks worth of clothing, an umbrella, my i-pad and a train ticket seem to be all I really actually need. And I'm wondering why I'm not more nervous for such a change.  But after making sure everything in the wee house is turned off, unplugged and locked up, I call a taxi figuring I'm done with classes and have nothing really to lose at this point. So why not?

Ten months ago I would have been an emotional wreck making another move. What am I saying? Ten months ago I was an emotional wreck over deciding whether or not to buy coffee for myself. Every decision I had to make seemed like my life depended on it. I stressed over everything from how to get a taxi; to how to collect the train tickets I'd purchased online; to how to find an Air B&B; to if I was just too old to being doing any of this. Now, here I am, setting out on my own again, still wishing I had someone to travel with, yet completely okay with traveling on my own and just seeing where things go. 

I've got friends outside of Dublin to visit on the weekends, I have plans to take a train to Belfast and meet the people with the BBC there, and I am completely calm about whatever the outcome is. I've learned a lot in classes here, but more than that, I've learned to take everything in stride.

I didn't get a couple of the placements I tried for, but then this came along. It just shows you that things really do work out...eventually. After all, I can always turn back and head for the wee house. And I realize I won't always have the chances and the opportunities before me right now. And I've learned to rely on myself because I'm the only one I have to rely on here. I've learned to travel alone, how to ask for help when I need it and how to pack efficiently for a few days or a few weeks, even if I'm not sure where I'm headed.

All of that has added up to confidence I didn't have when I got here. These are the kind of lessons you don't get in a classroom. These are the kind of lessons you hope your kids will learn early on. And these lessons will probably be even more valuable to me than my degree will be. And while I am admittedly learning a lot of this rather late in life, I can say that while I may not know quite where I'm headed, I will be confident when I get there.