Moments of Transition and Moments of Revelation

I’m a fan of quotations. Not being very quick-witted myself, I rely on other people’s quotes to fake it, and… they’ve helped me form my life. So when I think about my current life change, I’m fond of taking inspiration from a sci-fi TV show from 20 years ago.

At the end of Season 3, Babylon 5 had a particularly great season finale. When you write for a living, the show’s creator (known best as JMS) tends to crank out a lot of wisdom with the whimsy. So he had his character G’Kar, who started out as the angry, hungry politician, and then became the wiser, clever exile, to be his source for giving the high-level wise view of the situations. So G’Kar says, “We are caught between moments of transition and moments of revelation. This had the feeling of both.”

I consider this quote gospel. We’re either transitioning from one thing to another, from one project to another, from one crisis to another… or we have that moment where everything changes, that revelation.

As humans, we are rarely content with any situation we’re in; I think that links back on a genetic level. We constantly strive for something better, and as a result, get a civilization. This has disastrous effects as well, but that’s part of who we are–we want to do more. Even the most fulfilling relationship, most considerate job, the most wonderful kids will still leave us wondering… what if? To quote different characters on Babylon 5:

Franklin: “It’s all so brief, isn’t it? Typical human lifespan is almost a hundred years, but it’s barely a second compared to what’s out there. It wouldn’t be so bad if life didn’t take so long to figure out. Seems you just start to get it right and then… it’s over.”

Ivanova: “Doesn’t matter. If we lived two hundred years, we’d still be human. We’d still make the same mistakes.”

Franklin: “You’re a pessimist.”

Ivanova: “I am Russian, Doctor. We understand these things.”

Babylon 5, Soul Hunter

So when I’m worried about what changes this is going to cause in my life, I have to remind myself that 1) change is inevitable and 2) it’s good to experience new things. Maybe it will help me realize that the problems I have in my own life are not the result of my current job situation. Maybe it will fix them. Maybe it will make them worse, who knows? All I do is take comfort from my Uncle Chuck’s advice: “There are things about any job that you hate. The trick is if the positives outweigh the negatives. If they don’t, find another job.”

Even the best job I’ve had–the one I’ve worked at the longest (5 years), that major hospital–had things about it that bugged me. First of all, it was located in a city that sucked hard… but they couldn’t help that. But second, my perfect setup and flexibility between working at home and the office was going away. My department was being absorbed into Information Services and they had a very bad rap of demoralizing their employees. It was a highly negative environment and I got out before working from your cube became mandatory.

Which makes it rather ironic that I so desperately want to get back to that option. However, I took comfort from something my new boss told me as a warning. (How strange is that?) He said, “This is a driving position. You’ll have to occasionally drive to other locations to meet with contacts. You won’t be at your desk all the time.” And when he said that, the heavens opened, and I felt like, “Yes! That’s what I want!” To have the option to work from home, work from a desk, work from someone else’s desk, and still have the comfort of doing my regular job… that is amazing.

So I’m very hopeful that this new job will be a good fit for me. At the same time, I know the honeymoon period will wear off after six months, and it’ll just be a job again. But I feel I should embrace this moment of revelation while it lasts. But what do you think? Is it a fallacy to think one change in your life will affect everything else? Or since we define so much of our lives in our work, will it have a greater effect than I expect? Let me know in the comments below! Then if you like my ramblings, check out one of my books. However, if $1.99 is too rich for your blood, go ahead and download one of my stories for free. I’d appreciate it.

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