As I sat downtown DC over the weekend at my favorite corner (17th and Pennsylvania), I noticed this beautiful reflection as I drank Sunday morning coffee with my daughter. The new facade of the building directly in front of me awash in the blue of a mid-February blue sky; it’s expanse of glass reflecting the classical parapet-like structure of the white masonry building on my side of the street. The reflected image fit succinctly into the expanse of new glass; line to line, floor to floor, with the masonry taking on a ghostly note — floating against the moorings of glass just steps away.
So too are discoveries, or perhaps realizations this week. My internship places me back in the world of nonprofits — all the inner workings and intertwining of ideas, plans and strategies to bring the cloudy to solid life — not unlike this streetwise transition from masonry shadow to gleaming glass. When I left this (nonprofit) or first world as I think of it in relation to my career, I didn’t think I would ever feel the pull to return — but here I am, considering the road ahead and feeling pretty certain (though not yet saying aloud) that this is the direction I should head. I’m not sure if I am surprised by this realization, but I welcome it and in some ways I had a distinct hand, and interest in heading toward change. Even now, I hesitate to say I want to leave teaching though it’s been on my writer’s board since last semester to work toward a teaching adjacent day job. I think perhaps this idea of what’s old is new again is fostered by the soft landing — being able to intern within subject matter that I already have an affinity for — and by the graciousness of my interning hosts to welcome me into the fold.
Where this line of thinking will lead, I am not yet sure — but without the current leap I wouldn’t have come to this realization at all, so some organic gardening in respect to letting this realization rest in both camps for awhile, history and future, reflection and expanse is probably the best idea. A boss (Richard) long ago told me it’s always best to know what one doesn’t want, because that makes figuring our what one does want, so much easier. So, I’ll toast Richard from afar as he’s now decamped to Palm Springs — as I know what I don’t want, and I’ll figure out the steps to get what I do want, now that the vision grows clearer.
3 Coffees A Day 