Vulnerable but hopeful

You know you are vulnerable when watching "Superman" and it's the scene where Lois Lane is hanging from the helicopter, about to plunge to her death. She loses her grip, and the Superman theme song swells. Your eyes fill with tears as Superman catches her mid-air and says, "It's okay, Miss. I've got you."

Well, no one has "got" me. I've got me.

I got the word on Friday that I'm being laid off. I only have about two weeks, then .... options. All of them -- what will I do?

I could go for a full-time teaching position.
I could teach high school or middle school English.
I could work at Trader Joes.
I could sell my house and become an international house sitter.
I could sell my house because I'm willing to give it away just so I won't have the debt.
I could stay and write and produce the book of our time, a first hand account of this "recession."
I could get another job doing administrative work - the mistake of my career for the last quarter century.
I could sell everything and move to Guatemala and buy a house for $20,000 and live on $3,000 a year; writing and hiking and swimming and eating mangoes and offering exclusive writing retreats to hand-picked writers six times a year (to earn my $3000).

BTW, Superman is 6'4" and weighs 225 lbs. Yes, that is the official word on that. At least I'm not crying anymore. And he never lies. I think that is a good policy; I'd rather hear an ugly truth than a pretty lie.

So, if I no longer have a 9-5 gig, what did I really want to be when I grew up? Didn't I always know that I could take care of myself? No. I didn't always know it. But I have known it for a long time. I cannot imagine that this won't be the next best thing that I never knew was coming.