I wanted to write a blog post this past weekend to update you guys on what’s happened in a non-dance area of my life because it will affect my dancing. But my mind was still sorting out which way was up. So please forgive the delay.

First, I guess I’ll start with the end: I started a new job today!

The job was offered to me about four weeks ago. The timing was good; people were being laid off in my office and my workload was shrinking. So I answered opportunity’s knock and accepted the offer. The job is similar; I’ll still be writing/editing technical reports, just different topics.

I agreed to remain “on call” with my old company so I could help out if/when things did get busy. The company doesn’t lose me completely and I have the chance to earn some extra money. Win win.

Then last Thursday came around, which was my second-to-last day of working at the old company full time. I was even taken out for a goodbye lunch. People were on edge because big wigs were in the office. Not me, I had my exit strategy in place. It was after we came back from lunch that the world got flipped on its head. More people were being laid off.

It’s always hard to see people with whom you have worked for years be let go without notice. I had been with the company for about eight years, but some of the people who were let go had been there for 15 to 20 years! But that’s the corporate world for you. In the end, you’re just an employee number and a salary, especially in a larger company where the higher ups aren’t able to meet or get to know every employee.

Finishing up my work and transferring my remaining workload to another editor on Friday was more stressful than I anticipated. I think I was still in shock over the previous day’s layoffs, as were others. I had a headache by lunch time. It just wasn’t possible to get everything done in that one day, despite my efforts over the previous weeks to prepare. And to top it off, my lesson after work was cancelled.

After lunch, I tried to stop stressing myself out. I was still “on call” after Friday; I could finish things from home and still get paid for them. Ok, time to calm down.

It was a weird two days.

I spent the weekend dealing with a major bout of depression. The last two days of work had completely drained me emotionally. I needed time to find equilibrium again. Luckily, I had the foresight to request Tuesday as my start date at the new job instead of Monday. I started to wish I had taken a whole week off in between jobs, but financially that wasn’t feasible. I was grateful for that extra day though.

If you follow me on social media, then you know I was watching/cheering on Teacher and his pro partner at the Colorado Star Ball on Saturday night. They are participating in the Star Dance Tour. Professional couples compete at the participating competitions in their normal Open Smooth category and then also perform a show dance. They accumulate points through the tour based on judges’ scores AND audience votes. That’s the fun part; I get to vote for my teacher, just like on Dancing with the Stars! I’m happy to report that he and his partner tied for the most audience votes Saturday night! I’ll update my social media with information on the next competition, if you want to watch and vote too, so be sure to follow (links are on the side bar)!

Watching the competition on Saturday night actually helped alleviate some of the blues. I’ve had a lot of doubts recently about being a competitive student. The longer I went without a competition goal, the more it felt like it was a thing of the past, like I’d never be able to get back to competing. I even started to feel like ballroom dance in general was slowly being pulled away. But watching the professional dancers, including those I admire, renewed my connection somehow. They inspire and motivate me to keep working to become that amazing dancer I want to be. Their beautiful dancing gives me a long-term goal, like if I don’t give up, I could dance that beautifully some day!

So what does the new job mean for my dancing? Well, technically I’m now working two jobs, which means extra income. The income from being “on call” with my old company won’t be a lot or consistent, but it’ll be extra. I have this fantasy that I’ll be able to afford to compete in time for the Holiday Dance Classic in December. It’ll strongly depend on how much “on call” work I do, but even just having a fantasy competition goal lifts a weight off my shoulders and gives me hope.

Stay tuned, and happy dancing!