Empty House, New Job, Boss Quits, Fresh Faces, and Another Crazy Year In The Books.
It has been an interesting last little bit. However life of late has pinched me, I understand why and only rarely pinch back, because without pain there can be no actual transition. Whether that pain is measured to the pain of a brutal knife wound to the stomach (probably a 9.5 I have heard), or a mosquito bite on the hand (.3 maybe?), can it all not be viewed as a pinch? We each have our own scales to measure with. My toughest, your smoothest? I obsess, you dismiss? My palace, your cardboard box? Whichever way, even with these pinches (graded on my own pain scale) my ups are extended highs and my downs are rare, leaving everything as copacetic as it has been for a few...
Recently I was fortunate enough to find a place that would actually hire me! Lol, but not...I had been pretty ok doing side work, some paid writing gigs (journalism!?), contract work at the lovely Wealthy Theatre, and picking up odd jobs as they came up, but was relatively broke. Not the kind of broke that allows homelessness, sickness, or starvation to happen; those things I am able to control. Not the kind of situation where I ever felt the intended shame from the few who would try to project their sadness and frustration on me since I did not have a "real job with a real paycheck"; come strong or don't come at all. Lol to those jokers! More like the kind of broke where it's still easy to be content, even while counting pennies. Three cheers!!! for refocused perceptions and a slight shifts in perspective, each powerful enough to uproot and move the tallest of mountains, physical or perceived, but I digress...
An exciting opportunity was recently presented to me via Craigslist -imagine that! This particular occasion came in the form of a job posting that particularly piqued my desire to use the few skills I'm pretty positive I actually posses. Plus, part-time and the pay is proper. I tweaked my resume and applied, shaved and showered, interviewed a number of times, received some amazing references from equally amazing people, and was offered and ultimately accepted the position.
As the new Events Coordinator at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, my responsibilities seem vast and important. Not in my mind nor as sustenance for my ego, but as a recognized necessary piece of an extremely intricate and lightly delicate puzzle. Kinda like life I suppose, but I am grateful to once again be a part of an organization that is headed in the right direction. Not only headed in the right direction but also spearheading the equality movement that is steadily picking up steam all around us. I appreciate the confidence in my abilities already being shown by my colleagues and superiors. Speaking of...
My direct supervisor tendered his resignation -quite unexpected by me at least- in the middle of my third week! Um, holy shit. This is barely two months after my predecessor had left under circumstances that still remain unexplained, but I have no desire to drink from that well. Needless to say, I have noticed some interesting looks on faces passed in the halls the last couple days.
One year ago I was barely a week back in Grand Rapids, via Portland and San Francisco. In that year I have rested my head on dozens of different pillows, in dozens of different locations, and have slept well in each place. Although I am now officially employed, my nomadic lifestyle continues, and as always, 'where I live' is much less important than 'that I live'. And I shall.
Currently I live alone in an empty house. What is next? I still don't know, but I know it's coming and will be revealed to me when necessary. Currently I sleep on a couch and live out of boxes. Still I smile. Still I sleep. Still I continue to continue on- what else is there to do?
I work in church, but not your average church. In fact, FSC is not even a Christian church. With Lutheran and Baptist roots, the church's current identity now approaches Unitarian Universalism as a close approximation for comparison. Extremely liberal and accepting, I see how people can easily find a home there. With some of the most beautiful architecture in the city, you would be hard pressed to find a better wedding venue as the sixteen-hundred seat Sanctuary is an absolute marvel to behold. With stained glass windows spanning the entire length of the room, thirty feet high if an inch, that depict both Charles Darwin and Jesus H. Christ, it seems impossible to go wrong.
Much respect to both sides of the story considering Jesus was as just and full of truth as Darwin. Yet in many other spaces those two would never be mentioned in the same sentence, except in an(other futile) attempt to nullify the importance or necessity of the other. Silly humans.
Please know that Georges Lemaître, the author and proposer of the Big Bang theory, was a Catholic Priest and therefore a Christian. Yet he was also (purposefully or somehow inadvertently) attempting to disprove a necessary component of what I associate with the Christian faith. Crazy. Just an FYI for future conversations...
So if you are downtown Grand Rapids, stop by and see Fountain Street Church. I'll give you a tour and show you how cool everybody is. Hell, they hired me...
Thanks for reading.
Ryan
vvvvvvv
Recently I was fortunate enough to find a place that would actually hire me! Lol, but not...I had been pretty ok doing side work, some paid writing gigs (journalism!?), contract work at the lovely Wealthy Theatre, and picking up odd jobs as they came up, but was relatively broke. Not the kind of broke that allows homelessness, sickness, or starvation to happen; those things I am able to control. Not the kind of situation where I ever felt the intended shame from the few who would try to project their sadness and frustration on me since I did not have a "real job with a real paycheck"; come strong or don't come at all. Lol to those jokers! More like the kind of broke where it's still easy to be content, even while counting pennies. Three cheers!!! for refocused perceptions and a slight shifts in perspective, each powerful enough to uproot and move the tallest of mountains, physical or perceived, but I digress...
An exciting opportunity was recently presented to me via Craigslist -imagine that! This particular occasion came in the form of a job posting that particularly piqued my desire to use the few skills I'm pretty positive I actually posses. Plus, part-time and the pay is proper. I tweaked my resume and applied, shaved and showered, interviewed a number of times, received some amazing references from equally amazing people, and was offered and ultimately accepted the position.
As the new Events Coordinator at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, my responsibilities seem vast and important. Not in my mind nor as sustenance for my ego, but as a recognized necessary piece of an extremely intricate and lightly delicate puzzle. Kinda like life I suppose, but I am grateful to once again be a part of an organization that is headed in the right direction. Not only headed in the right direction but also spearheading the equality movement that is steadily picking up steam all around us. I appreciate the confidence in my abilities already being shown by my colleagues and superiors. Speaking of...
My direct supervisor tendered his resignation -quite unexpected by me at least- in the middle of my third week! Um, holy shit. This is barely two months after my predecessor had left under circumstances that still remain unexplained, but I have no desire to drink from that well. Needless to say, I have noticed some interesting looks on faces passed in the halls the last couple days.
One year ago I was barely a week back in Grand Rapids, via Portland and San Francisco. In that year I have rested my head on dozens of different pillows, in dozens of different locations, and have slept well in each place. Although I am now officially employed, my nomadic lifestyle continues, and as always, 'where I live' is much less important than 'that I live'. And I shall.
Currently I live alone in an empty house. What is next? I still don't know, but I know it's coming and will be revealed to me when necessary. Currently I sleep on a couch and live out of boxes. Still I smile. Still I sleep. Still I continue to continue on- what else is there to do?
I work in church, but not your average church. In fact, FSC is not even a Christian church. With Lutheran and Baptist roots, the church's current identity now approaches Unitarian Universalism as a close approximation for comparison. Extremely liberal and accepting, I see how people can easily find a home there. With some of the most beautiful architecture in the city, you would be hard pressed to find a better wedding venue as the sixteen-hundred seat Sanctuary is an absolute marvel to behold. With stained glass windows spanning the entire length of the room, thirty feet high if an inch, that depict both Charles Darwin and Jesus H. Christ, it seems impossible to go wrong.
Much respect to both sides of the story considering Jesus was as just and full of truth as Darwin. Yet in many other spaces those two would never be mentioned in the same sentence, except in an(other futile) attempt to nullify the importance or necessity of the other. Silly humans.
Please know that Georges Lemaître, the author and proposer of the Big Bang theory, was a Catholic Priest and therefore a Christian. Yet he was also (purposefully or somehow inadvertently) attempting to disprove a necessary component of what I associate with the Christian faith. Crazy. Just an FYI for future conversations...
So if you are downtown Grand Rapids, stop by and see Fountain Street Church. I'll give you a tour and show you how cool everybody is. Hell, they hired me...
Thanks for reading.
Ryan
vvvvvvv
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