When I was a little girl, my mom would drag me to the stores while she shopped and I’d amuse myself by looking at stuff. I was just learning to read and was always thrilled to find items with “Pat. Pending” on the label. I didn’t know what “Pending” meant, and had no idea that the “Pat.” actually referred to patent applications, but I loved being able to read my own name on so many things!
When I was trying to come up with a name for this blog, it occurred to me that besides being kind of cute and clever (at least to me), Pat Pending is also the perfect description of where I was in my life at that time. A few years before, I had left a long-time job and career with no earthly idea of what I was going to do next. I was…pending. And the truth is, I probably always will be. Are any of us ever really finished? So, with that in mind, I offer some reflections and revelations that occur as I pend.
I’m not sure I could be happier than I am right now. I’m sure I’ve been as happy, and hopefully, I’ll be this happy again. But what I really hope is that I can stay this happy, because the last year and a half have been quite a roller coaster! Quick re-cap: About 18 months […]
I’ve been waiting for this for years! December 21, 2012 is almost here and there’s lots of talk – mostly in jest – about the end of the world as “predicted” by the Mayan calendar. In fact, I’m pretty sure they Mayans didn’t think the world would end on that date. But they did seem […]
So here I am, still in transition a year and a half after losing my job. I’m happy to say that I’ve managed to avoid getting a “real” job after all this time, and even happier to say that I’ve discovered what I want to do! Those of you who’ve followed my progress over this […]
Like many people, I’m in transition right now. And even though I know it’s an amazing opportunity and deep down believe it’s all going to turn out splendidly, sometimes I feel discouraged. And when I’m in the lowest points – as I was a week or two ago – I start to question why life […]
For some reason the other day I remembered the cutest bathing suit I ever had. I was probably about 11 or 12, just getting a figure. I was still enjoying childhood, and never realized that I had slipped into adolescence overnight. That is, until my first day at the pool that summer, when it became […]
For the last week or so I’ve been feeling a bit discouraged and scared about my financial future. I'm in the midst of an experiment to see if I can actually make a living doing things that I love and give me joy. I’ve been exploring ways to turn my love of singing and my […]
Something really big happened yesterday, and it took a whole day for it to even register. Someone told me she’d been reading my blog. This is not someone I really know. I’d only met her once in passing through a mutual friend, who apparently told her about it. But not only did she say she’d […]
I’ve been feeling a little low. I’ve been away from a traditional job for over a year now, trying to discover what brings me joy and how to support myself while having the freedom to do those things. I still have some money in the bank, but not enough income to sustain my “sabbatical” a […]
My spiritual director, Jean, advised me to go on a writer's retreat today. I've been experiencing writer's block and she felt it might help if I took a day, not necessarily to write, but to feed the writer in me. So, since I've never gone wrong following her instructions, today I retreated. Last night I […]
I was taking a shortcut in the grocery store from produce to dairy when it happened again. One minute I was rolling along with my cart and my list, grooving to some surprisingly good tunes on the loudspeaker, and then I saw them. I came to a dead stop. I got that familiar sinking/queasy feeling […]