B is for Beginning Again

Setting up a new Google+ account as a metaphor for the process of setting up a new life.
This is the auspice under which I've been operating today.

It was almost 2 year ago when my life did a belly flop into unknown waters.  Suddenly I'm a single parent of a teenager, no home, no job, and dreams seemingly down the tubes.  Completely unknown territory.
Google+, also completely unknown territory, though not nearly so emotionally volatile.  I've been friends with Facebook for years now, and MySpace before that.  Those were primarily for social contact, whereas I've adopted Google+ to feed my new writing addiction.  The obvious metaphorical difference to the reality:  I chose to leave behind MySpace and add Google+ to my social network thingy.   I did not choose to lose my marriage.  But, let's not dwell on that sad condition and instead move on to the journey.

Beginning again was an arduous process filled with bumped knees and stubbed toes (we won't even approach the heart break).  I had to perform tasks never before tried on my own.  Things like finding a place to live (ultimately provided for me through an amazing gift), getting the bills in my name, organizing a move, filing for home ownership, fixing broken windows, having a porch built, and on and on.  Any of you who own a home know where I'm coming from.  I had been a homeschooling Mom for 7 years with no consistent work outside my home.  35 years old with no work history to speak of in almost a decade.  At the same time, getting a job meant having to transition my oldest (at the time my only) child out of homeschool and into public school.  All while juggling not only my pain, but my son's as well.

With the support of a handful of loyal friends, some kind strangers, and a lot of perseverance I got through that hell much faster than I expected.  And isn't that usually how it goes?  It's how it usually goes in my life anyway.  I tend to have less confidence in myself than I deserve.  Flash forward....

Once I got over the hurdles and through the biggest of the pain, the foundation of my new life came together quickly.  By Christmas of that year I had a job I loved, a new relationship, and the beginnings of new dreams.  By March of the following year, I knew this new relationship was better for me than any of my previous experiences, and two raises at work. By April I knew my life was truly starting over when I discovered I was pregnant.

Wow.  Let the head spinning commence.  I knew I was beginning again.  I didn't know I was BEGINNING AGAIN. I chose to be amazed, awed, and inspired.  I'm still there today.  It reminds me of several cliches:  When one door closes another opens,
The night is darkest just before the dawn,
Never look a gift horse in the mouth,
Let go and let God....
etc....

Cliches are cliches because of how very often they apply to the shared experience of humanity.
Which brings me back to social networking and Google+.  I still don't know how to promote myself, or add friends, and why I can't just add my fb contacts to my Google+.  I haven't yet discovered all the cool things I can do with Blogger, like change fonts and insert pictures.  Also, what exactly IS a blog, and why do people write them?  There are a million questions about this new hobby of mine.  Before all of the loss, before all the changes, before my beginning again, I'm not sure I'd even have bothered with this whole thing.  See, then, I had all my dreams and my whole life plotted out.  Now, the road is wide open.  Anything could happen.
I've moved beyond being afraid and now I'm just excited.

Thanks for the inspiration, Google+.