Hiatus

"Lately it occurs to me: What a long, strange trip it's been." - Truckin' by The Grateful Dead

My 2012 has been far from what I'd call "stable," but up until June I had a nice routine going in my life. I had my work, I had my hockey, I had love and happiness. Then at the end of May, it's almost as if the volume on EVERYTHING in my life got turned up a thousand decibels -- and suddenly nothing about my carefully managed routines worked any more.

So what happened in June?

My beloved Los Angeles Kings defied logic and stunned critics by winning their first Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history. I was there screaming and cheering and crying in the 11th row of Section 116 for every moment -- and the experience changed my life.

My work got incredibly busy with the kickoff of a project that will consume the next year and a half of my work life. The reality of needing to have a suitcase constantly packed became slightly daunting.

And then came the biggest change in my life in a very long time -- my long distance love came to LA and undid my world in the best possible way. I was the happiest I'd been in a very long time -- and completely unsettled at the same time.

Suddenly there were two people, two schedules and two sets of priorities in the space only I used to occupy. At first, I thought the best way to handle it would be to just power through and get everything settled as soon as possible -- move around the furniture, reorganize the closets and drawers, unpack the boxes. Once all that was "done" everything would be normal again.

Well, that didn't work.

That's because merging your life with someone you love is about much more than finding space in closets and drawers. It's about finding space in your heart and your mind. And if you fully embrace that idea, you soon realize that what looked like "normal" before doesn't work any more. "Normal" becomes something completely new -- and even better than your "old" life.

I realized I had to spend some time experiencing my "new" life in order to figure out how to make it work. So I took some time to step away from the laptop and just live.

 

What I learned about my "new life" is that very different things are important to me now. New ideas and interests motivate me. There are different ways I want to spend my time. Above all, I think less about "me" and more about "us." Because being part of "us" has changed my life for the better and I'm grateful for every moment of my new life.

Now back to blogging....