Nice to see you again. Follow me, @SydneyOwen. Thanks for being here!
My blogging hiatus of nearly a week is without a doubt well-earned and not a bad thing. I needed a break.
I am uprooting my life on August 1st and high-tailing my Florida tan to Chicago for a bigger and better opportunity. I asked my employer how long I have to wait until I blog about this, and I’m still waiting for the green light to scream their name from the roof tops, but as I sit at this intersection, waiting for the light to change, I need to do a little dance or something. I’m going to go stir-crazy.
I’m holding off on the “I am so excited and this is why” post and will publish that when I get the go-ahead.
In light of my success, I have run into a mix of emotions and responses from friends and colleagues in my current arrangements.
“You’ll be back. Chicago is too cold.” This may or may not be true (the too cold part). But I’m certainly not going to quit my dream because of some wind and north-pole temperatures. And keep in mind, I’ve done winters for 20 years, and just recently moved to Florida. Unfortunately, at this time, there aren’t any opportunities to advance my career here in Tampa, so I’m not going to sit around and bartend while I wait. Opportunity is knocking, so I’m moving to where it is. I’m good like that. And why wouldn’t I? I’m single, I’m graduating, and I have nothing keeping me here (but I will miss my fam).
“Chicago is too expensive.” Maybe it is. Maybe I’ll be eating Ramen for a year before I get my feet firmly on the ground. It’s a risk I’m willing to take because I’m going to be doing something that I’m passionate about. And passion takes the cake over easy any day of the week. Here is an interesting bit about being passionate about what you do.
The people in my field (and people like me) are stoked for me. The PR department head is freaking out. My hair stylist (also relocating across the country) who is one of my closest friends is so proud and excited.Everyone in my graduating class is proud, and saying “I knew you’d get it”. These are my fans and my friends and people I’ll be working with in the future – so good thing they’re friendly about it.
“You got lucky,” (read: the people with no drive are pissed) Lucky? No. Prepared, working extremely hard and following up on opportunities? Absolutely. I have colleagues at the restaurant that are two or three years out of college and doing nothing. Not because they are looking and there is nothing available. They aren’t looking and they’re fine with it, until someone who is successful comes along. Then they take their lack of drive out on me and try to throw all of their negative energy my way. And then when I don’t bite, they play the pity card. Sorry kids, your lack of motivation is not going to bring me down off this cloud. But thank you for trying.
The ones who thought I couldn’t do it don’t talk to me anymore. Good riddance. I said I was going to that conference to learn as much as possible, meet some amazing people and hopefully come home with great contacts and some opportunities for my future. And I did. So, “I told you so”.
What have I learned from all of this so far? You never know who your true friends are until you tell them that you’re leaving in four months. Who is excited for you? Who cuts ties? Who will actually visit like they say?
Well speaking from experience, nobody will visit. The people that are excited for me are the people that really know me, not the people that think they know me. The people cutting ties are the people who are unsatisfied with their own lives and don’t want to be a part of my success – or the people who are afraid of being hurt. I’ve done it too, someone is leaving, so it’s easier for me to not be involved than to deal with the emotions of losing that person. Maybe that’s what is happening. Though I doubt it.