The pressure is off, and the sky's the limit!

Several people have asked about next steps. "So...whatcha gonna do?"

I don't have a clue.

It's kind of like using a flashlight in the dark. The light only illuminates those close-in steps. Everything beyond the circle of light is black. (Which is why I can't stand flashlights. They ruin your night vision.)

A colleague, the one who wanted to help me out of the box, said on Monday that I look lighthearted. "Your whole demeanor is changed." She's a psychologist, so she ought to know right?

Actually, I did feel lighter. Class with the students was even fun as I got them started on their writing journey. Fly free, little birdies! Here's the tools you need to get the job done! Now take flight! Go write!

While we did in-class workshopping on their ideas about the literature, I gave them handouts to help organize their ideas. I deemed Wednesday a workshop day in which they will begin their assignments.

In the meantime, I decided not to stress any more...about anything. For the last five years or so, I've put pressure on myself to hurry up, save up, buy a house! Buy some land! Do something! Be productive! Be be productive! B-E PRO-DU-CT-IVE! Productive! Be be Productive!

I've heard it like a cheerleading chant these last few years. But, all this time, I've been productive by holding down between one and three jobs at any one time.

Living is expensive, and wages are low.

And, while doing all this working , I've watched as house prices skyrocketed. And now with inflation? Forget it! I'm not buying anything. Instead, I've shifted my priorities.

I've come to realize I might be in this RV another ten years. I started into "Year 7" on August 1. I have to at least make it through this year. They say every cell in your body has died and been replaced with new cells over the period of about seven years. If that's the case, then you are physically new every seven years. I don't know if it's physiologically true or not. I should look it up....

... okay, I looked it up. A lot of cells are replaced with seven years..some cells, like some in the heart last longer.

So...okay, my heart is old, but I'm essentially a new-ish person on the cellular level. The point is...this RV experience has changed me. (Or I changed while living it.)

Either way, a timeline of seven is a major thing. We've got seven days in a week. The tribulation lasts seven years. There are seven days of creation in Genesis. The Pleadies are the Seven Sisters. (But the constellation has nine main stars?)

Seven, seven, seven.

At the end of the seventh year in the Godspeed, something significant should happen. So...for now, I'm just going back into my migratory cycle. I'll stick it out here until the end of the semester, mid-December, and then head south to Arizona.

But I'm not going to stress any more. No more house pressure or career pressure. I'm going to happily work my little part-time jobs and teach some online courses for that other university. When it gets too hot in the south, I'll move north. Too cold in the north, I'll move south. I'll just migrate and live out the rest of my days in this RV until Jesus leads me to do something else.