The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Ok, so it's a cheesy and cliched expression, but until someone comes up with a better analogy, there isn't a more apt metaphor describing my current state.

You must understand that the work I do (and have done for the last couple years) is solely for the cash and that I have absolutely nothing invested in it -- there is no love for what I do day in and day out. Therefore, the worst days at work are the ones when I'm stuck in the middle of 'the tunnel,' so to speak -- when I'm working hard, head down, with no distinct goal or future reprieve in sight. These are miserable, miserable times.

Yet at some point this week (I think it was Thursday), it all just clicked for me. I realized that 5 weeks from now, I will be flying into San Francisco, spending a few days there before heading to LA and finishing with one helluva festival. Suddenly at work I had visions of bombing it along Highway 1 by myself in a rental car, windows down, tunes blaring with the sun shining on some of the most amazing scenery in the world. And y'know what? That was enough.

Which isn't to say there won't be frustrating times at work between now and then (in fact, there already have been), but simply that I have motivation to work through such things. I suppose everyone has their own driving factors, and adventure -- especially when combined with uncertainty and live music -- is definitely high on that list for me.

However, I am not only excited about my trip to California. The week I return home I am going to meet up with the 2 Scottish girls I met in Moscow and spend some time showing them around my corner of Canada. This should also be when I find out whether I was accepted to do my Master's at the University of Oslo or not, and so my next adventure (whether to Norway or elsewhere) should be in the works by that point as well.

Finally -- and perhaps as equally uplifting -- is the notion that spring will be here soon enough. Although we haven't had a particularly long winter this year (it didn't really get cold til mid-January), it's still been 2 years since I've experienced a Canadian winter and I'm ready for it to be done. It's been warmer the last couple days and the snow and ice has begun to melt. Again, this isn't to say that it won't be cold or snowstormy again, just that if it is, it will be bearable, because the worst is behind us and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.