67 Choices Part 2: Parking

It is so hard to find time to write these days. I’m always super busy and the quiet time I need to concentrate on writing is at an all time premium. Kind of like the price of gasoline… So that explains the long delay between Control Part 1 and Control Part 2.

Something has come up that is much more important and timely than Control Part 2 so I will keep it short. Basically I wanted to mention something I did once I returned to work after maternity/cancer leave.

I started parking in different parts of the company parking lot.

This sounds like a small thing. It is a small thing, but at the same time it’s a big thing.

I used to always park in a certain area of the parking lot – the part in back close to the back door.

After my leave time I began parking all over the place – in the front, around the sides, under the trees, in the carport-like covered spaces, out in the open... I never knew from one day to the next where I’d end up. My only rule became “Not near the crepe myrtle trees during the months of the year when they’re expressing dew.” That dew is sticky and doesn’t come off until you wash the vehicle. Occasionally I would go out the front door when my car was around back or vice versa, but the parking lot was small enough that this wasn’t a problem.

The empowering thing about this freeform parking behavior was that I chose not to be bound by certain old habits. Cancer took away certain choices and illusions of security. Making my parking habits less predictable gave back some elements of control. I created more choices by shaking off slavery to old habits. That was a very big deal.

I worked for that company for five years. On December 16, 2008 they eliminated my job and laid me off. Nice, eh?

That brings me to the more important and timely blog entry: Goodbye to Kay.

Next - 68 Goodbye to Kay
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