stairway to heaven… there’s a job out there somewhere.

remember that i had a little networking meet-up the other day? no? i didn’t mention it here on my blog? well, i secretly mentioned it… it was the inspiration behind this post. hehe.

anyway, i did have a little networking meet-up with an inspiring guy who’s a journalist/blogger here in asheville. i’d never met him before, but i have been having a little twitter contact with him for the past 4ish months. that’s not much contact considering you only have 140 characters in twitter messages. but, it was just enough to establish a little connection with each other and set up a time to chat over coffee. my purpose? to make new contacts in my new/old city, especially in the writing field. to put myself out there as someone who wants to write for a living with every fiber of her being.

so, at 10am on thursday, i met this fellow writer at a cafe downtown.

i parked my car in the parking garage on the top level. there’s always a great view of asheville from up there and i was feeling especially inspired that morning. i took the stairs down to the street level and realized that i had gone one too far. so, i was on the street that was one level below/behind the street where the cafe was. fortunately, there was a staircase directly in front of me, leading up to the street where i needed to be. i stood there for a moment just staring at the stairs going up, leading to what looked like the sky. there was a stop sign also that i could see. and i thought to myself:

perhaps these stairs lead to my future. to the next part of my journey, whatever that may be. and i felt excited. not scared at all for what comes next. i simply trust the universe. and know that up those stairs is the beginning of the next part of my life, the next chapter. if not literally, then figuratively.

i climbed the stairs, aware of every step forward. i opened the door of the cafe, ordered a regular coffee, poured a little milk in, and began my first real job-ish kinda connection!

we sipped coffee at a little table in the corner of the cafe, as people rushed in and out, getting their work day started with take away coffee in their homemade mugs (eco-friendly asheville!). a few people sat huddled at tables nearby, chatting about life & work, i suppose. and we sat and shared with each other about our lives, our love for asheville, and simply got to know each other. will it ever turn into any kind of job or opportunity for me? i have no idea. but, i put myself out there. and we’ll keep in touch. so, it all feels worthwhile.

but, then, something else happened later on in the day…

i got a little text from my friend jessica, asking if i would be willing to teach at an elementary school. hmmm… well, i have been working on trying to find a teach job for many reasons:

1. i have quite a bit of experience.
2. i love the diversity & challenges of working in special education
3. it’s a good schedule (vacations, holidays, etc. so i can travel to sweden easily!).
4. steady pay and good insurance.
5. time to write more
6. time to work on getting certified as a yoga teacher
7. fulfills my desire/calling to work in a mission field – being a teacher is mission work, and damn hard mission work i believe. much harder (in a different way) than working in a church, in my opinion. for me at least. (and i am not dissing all my preacher friends at all! i know that being a pastor/minister is incredibly time-consuming, as in a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week job, exhausting, and misunderstood – people think all you do is sit around & read and prepare sermons. and mind you, i have never been a senior pastor – nor do i want to be!).

of course, this does not fulfill my dream of writing full-time, but that is a goal that i have. i know that it is not really possible to just do that right now. so, teaching will also give the opportunity (=time) to grow my blog even more and work on my book, while making more connections in the writing/blogging world.

after i processed all of those thoughts (and the knowledge that i just need a job) in about 1 minute, i responded to jessica, “YES!”. i’m interested.

long story short, i emailed with the director of special education for the county (haywood county – where i used to work in the church, the next county over, about 20-30 minutes away), and she said she sent my resume to a principal at a school. and it’s the school where jessica works! crazy! this was all thursday afternoon, by the way.

friday morning, i was cleaning in our studio, when my phone rang. i didn’t recognize the number and didn’t think anything about it.

me: hello?
man on the phone: may i speak to elizabeth?
me: (still clueless) this is she.
motp: hi. this is ** from ** elementary school. i was just sitting here looking over your resume, 
and would like to know if you would like to come for an interview on monday.
me: (stunned. shocked. confused)oh? (brief pause, because it seemed surreal) absolutely! that soundsgreat!

the conversation continued, and we found out we had both lived in the same areas in the middle part of north carolina. and he freaked out when he realized that i worked at a church in canton (same little mountain town) for 7 years, thereby already having a connection with the area. needless to say, it was a very relaxed phone call, and the principal reassured me that the interview would be very relaxed as well.

and then, the conversation was over. hang up the phone. stare for a moment. run out of the room to tell lina. call mom. text jessica. update facebook status.

i can’t believe it! i have an interview on monday! woo hoo! wish me luck, send me vibes, and i’ll be sure to keep you posted.

looks like that stairway to heaven, to my future, really was a step into the next part of my life. we’ll see what happens. and come what may, i know that it will be exactly as is should be.

keep on walking, friends. peace.