Within the next few days, one of my coworkers will be leaving BigConglomCoInc. for the greener pastures of the east coast. He's been a friend of mine through the last two years, and he's a conversation starter. He's always got an opinion, and every once in a while I can really catch him off-guard with a good riff. It's great, he's the type that takes the two seconds to try to catch up with me, and once he does you can see the realization.
It's doubly disappointing for me, because I'd been looking for new employment (as all you folks know) for the previous three years. I wanted to be the one leaving, because it's far easier in that position... there's something to look forward to. In essence, he's leaving the island and the rest of us are trying to find our own boat off. Of course, the knife in the guts is that he managed to find a luxury cruiser, he'll be making almost double my salary at the new position.
For my wife, she's dealing with her own separation, and it's also not one of her making. One of her good friends, a mother with two children who introduced her to some kids' groups and the one she could call if she was feeling down, is also moving away. Her friend's husband was let go from his job, and he had to scramble to find another one. They'll be leaving for Arizona this very morning (28 June 2010). They left a few reminders though, they had three cats and did not want to transport them immediately... so the cats are all living temporarily with us.
This brings me to the point of my post, the downside of the art that I've been immersing myself in. The best art, in my opinion, is art that is able to make you feel. Sometimes you're able to celebrate, to feel better, to enjoy... but art is also good if it is able to make you feel sad, sorry, nostalgic, or any other emotions. Unfortunately, the "down" emotions are magnified in my circumstance due to all the things going on.
I know that if I were to feel nothing over this that I may as well be half-dead. I'm not wishing to feel badly about my friend and his amazing good fortune, and I really don't... except that I don't want him to leave. I don't want my series to end, because I really enjoy the characters or plot... but everything has an ending and nothing lasts forever. I suppose that in finding analogues from anime plots to what's going on with me, I should both be heartened that I'm not the only one going through this as well as to see that there is an ending, even if my life isn't a tidy twenty-four episodes counting finale.
As you may note, this has left me more than a bit maudlin, though at this point I'm throwing everything I've got into the search. I put through twelve applications between Thursday and Friday last week, and I look forward to another week of at least twenty to thirty applications. According to my lucky friend, he'd been searching from February and finally found something starting mid-July. (Of course, I remember that the interviews for his July job started in April.... ) I hope that I am able to locate something quicker, especially with the classes that I would rather not start than to go halfway through and have to cancel.
On the other hand, life is worth living and I'm building my own path. The difficult part is finding out whether or not it's a sedate little trip or a roller coaster. Emotions may be high, emotions may be low... but between life and art, I know it will be an amazing trip regardless.
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