Happy Anniversary/New Year!

My, how time flies! I always look at the expiration date on my license or credit card and think “It’ll NEVER be 2009.” Or 2010. Or 2011. And then, boom! That impossible future date has not only become the present, but has already receded into the past.
So here we are, already into the second decade of the new century. And, into the 3rd year of No Map. No Guide. No Limits. posts!
A lot has changed in the past two years, of course … both on the site, and in the life of the woman behind it (which would be me). Of course, since this site is about embracing change and new adventures, that’s all well and good. I’ve noticed, in fact, that the universe seems to call me—sometimes almost immediately—on any pronouncements I make about life. Really? You say your biggest fear is being bored? Okay, try THIS for a series of life events! … You tell people that change and uncertainty can be good things? Okay, let’s see how you handle a heap of your own medicine, all at once!
It’s annoying at times, but at least the universe keeps me honest.
An update on some of the big changes … at the beginning of October, after almost 12 years at the job, I resigned my position as West Coast Editor of Flying magazine. For a number of reasons, I decided it was just time to move on. For the moment, I’m still writing my monthly column for the magazine—if that changes, I’ll certainly post any news about it on this site. In any event, my writing won’t go away … I’m still writing as an online correspondent for The Atlantic, and I’ll keep writing on this site, no matter what. I’m also working on a book about passion (Passion: Where It Comes From, Where It Can Take You, and Why It Matters) … so I’m not without projects or outlets.
But leaving a secure job, especially when the industry you work in (publishing) is in the middle of an spectacular (and, some would say, terrifying) implosion, is still a bit of a leap off a cliff, into very uncharted and uncertain territory. Like I’ve often said—adventure comes in many forms and guises, and physical adventure is just one of them.
Truth to tell, I’m not sure how it’s all going to play out, or even exactly where I’m going to end up. I am, once again, navigating by the truest compass I’ve ever found … my heart. Guided, of course, by some very dedicated analysis of what matters most to me, what I’d like to do and accomplish, and how, in this very uncharted environment, I might get from here to there. It is, and will continue to be—like so many other endeavors I’ve taken on over the years—an adventure.
That career move has had other ramifications, as well, the biggest being that I’ve relocated from California to the Boston, Massachusetts area. California is a very expensive place to live without a steady paycheck, and we had a family-owned cottage near the coast here that, with a serious amount of renovation/construction work, could make a good place for my parents to live (they need to sell the house they’ve lived in for 50+ years in New York and set up a quieter, single-story life in a place where they can also have some extra care, if they need it). And given that I’d just quit my full-time job, I was the one person in the family who could, realistically, take on that construction project.
So I’m currently living in a full-blown construction zone, up to my ears in construction dust, demolition debris, freezing half-built rooms, noise, chaos, and the daily adventure of trouble-shooting a project that, like most adventures, is proving far more challenging than I initially anticipated. All this with serious winter weather raging outside. My poor airplane doesn’t quite know what to make of its changed situation in life. I suspect it misses California. But it at least has a good home, and it also has a new friend flying it—my boyfriend’s son, Connor (who is also now living with us), is taking flying lessons in it. It’s a bit weird to stand at the airport and watch other people flying my airplane, but life is about change. And, as I’ve written many times before, change is what allows new possibilities to arise.
But between the construction, the move, the career/job changes, preparing for a new stage of life with my parents, and taking on a teenager after a lifetime of single living … there’s been a pretty intense amount of change and uncertainty going on around here.
And yet, despite all the discomfort and inconvenience all of those things have brought into my life, I remain just as committed to the “No Map. No Guide. No Limits.” philosophy as ever. No adventure is comfortable. And even in the midst of all these changes, I’m also aware that I’m learning a lot, and experiencing parts and new paths of life (e.g. parenting) that I never thought I would. My life is—for the short term—going to be an exhausting and complex bit of chaos. But out of this chaos, I truly believe some new and wonderful things will emerge. Are already emerging. I just have to employ all those helpful hints I’ve given to others over the years to make sure I survive the adventure with my sanity intact.
So, stay tuned for more details on that adventure … and for more offerings here of resources, voices, and thought-provoking writing on the questions, issues, challenges and rewards of adventure, passion, and charting your own course in life … with No Map. No Guide. … and No Limits.
Happy New Year!
Lane