Traveling Shoes and Answers

Y’all remember the Baron has a temporary part-time job now, right? This is a 99.9% telecommute situation with occasional face-to-face meetings as necessary. These tête-à-tête confabs will be rare. Given that he hates to sleep anywhere but in his own bed, I, for one, believe his assurances in this regard.

Thus did the Baron put on his traveling shoes this afternoon and head out to meet with his new bosses. He should return by Thursday, maybe even earlier.

Before leaving he scheduled a newsfeed for tonight; it will appear magically at the appointed time. He also asked me to explain why comment moderation will be spotty for the duration — i.e., my time in the chair is limited by the pain in me derrière.

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This new job is such a blessing! While it’s not permanent or full-time, the pleasure the Baron gets from even this partial return to work is delightful to behold. Sometimes I think I ought to tie an anchor to his foot to keep him from floating off…

There’s another aspect to this job: it is one answer to a question I’d reluctantly begun to ponder as the year turned.

Yes, our donors are generous, and, yes, the freelance editing we do helps a great deal. But taken together, these weren’t quite enough to avoid dipping into our savings. As the bottom line continued to dwindle, I couldn’t help wondering whether we were on the right path. Yet I also couldn’t — and can’t - envision our life without Gates of Vienna, despite that insistent economic reality. So, as I always do when faced with this kind of question, I began to search for some indication that we were indeed still on the right path.

It works like this: The Decision — whatever term one uses, it’s essentially a Quo Vadis query — goes at the top of a sheet of copy paper. This is used for a week or ten days during which time I note whatever appears regarding my question. These indicators can be big flashing lights or small, subtle signs. Obviously the Big Ones weigh more heavily in reaching A Decision.

In this case, leaving aside all the small signs which showed up that week, here are two we couldn’t miss: the first was this new job in a field The Baron loves and has missed dearly. It is also one he can do from home while still maintaining Gates of Vienna and his other commitments.

The second indicator arrived in the form of a most generous gift which (if editing jobs and donations stay the same) permit us to let our savings alone for the immediate future.

Using this method to arrive at A Decision has, without fail, provided answers of startling clarity. Though I haven’t been happy in all cases to discern what needed doing, I can’t complain about ambiguity; there isn’t any. The answers certainly do get my attention. They are lucidity in the moment, which is all I need.

And should the necessity to ask another question slowly reappear, I’ll know it eventually, too, even though I may procrastinate as long as possible before getting out that piece of paper.