"The Young and the Jobless" — Afterward

The big challenge after you get a job, after all the issues with paperwork and Immigration have been cleared away — which I am happy to announce they have for me — is to learn to settle down.

To realize that this is it: Three hundred and sixty-five days of the routine of work, home, work, home, weekend, work, home. The challenge is to squeeze all of the other things you love in between so that you don’t go crazy. To learn to adjust to the idea that this is your life, that calm and content has replaced the frantic question of the few months past, the question of whether you could ever get to this point you are right now.

It’s a great feeling to know that you have. That you beat the odds. Not just the odds of the New York City competiton among all the other entry-level publishing fiends like you, but also the odds of Immigration. There was a lottery back in April, and you had 50-50 chances of being picked for a work visa. But you did — on the last day possible, after all hope had vanished, you heard good news.

And here you are now, on a lazy Sunday afternoon in July, still in New York City, still on your little room, thinking about guitar, and the movie you’ve saved for later, the scrumptious stir-fry you’ll make after you save this entry, the run around your neighborhood in the sun, the slumbers on your comfortable newly bought IKEA bed tonight, the breakfast tomorrow morning, the train ride to work, which four months later is still your dream job.

Life works out so well sometimes…

I’m back, and happy, and thankful — and welcoming new challenges.