This post is part of the Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. Thanks to Gwen Bell I will be looking back at 2009 for the next month and highlighting the best experiences from the past 12 months.


This doesn’t qualify as ‘best’ but it’s definitely the one that sticks out the most in my head. After getting laid off back in July, Maggie was nice enough to meet me for a drink on her lunch break. She had to return to work (which at the time, I was like “bitch,” haha) I suddenly had an entire afternoon with nothing to do. I stuck around downtown for a little  bit, but then I decided to head back towards my apartment in Wrigleyville. Not being in the mood to face the dog and girlfriend, I headed towards the beach.

It was here at the beach that I did some soul searching and had to calm myself down. Basically, I needed to reassure myself that it was a stupid move on their part and that I’d surely find another job in the middle of the worst recession that Gen Y had ever seen. Luckily, it was July, so it was pretty nice just hanging out on the concrete steps, pondering what to do with the impending free time I’d have. It’s pretty damn cliche, but there’s something calming about sitting and looking out on a lake. My mind was racing from ‘why me’ to ‘what now’ to ‘now I can do more things I’ve been wanting to do.’ I was out there for about an hour or so before finally heading home.

Amazing what some time alone can do.

image credit andyj682