Silly Goose

Each year, in the early spring, a goose couple generally spends their days hanging out in and around my pond. I don’t know if it’s the same couple each year, but none the less, it’s a couple.

 They fly in some time in the morning, and fly back out in the evening, to where I assume is the spot that the entire flock gathers for the night.

They have a distinct call out to each other signaling when it’s time to leave, and then in perfect harmony, they take flight side by side, heading for their nighttime destination.

You can usually expect that same thing to occur each evening, except tonight, when it didn’t.

The couple headed away from the pond as usual, although the female, moving slowly, lagged behind to graze for a bit longer. The male honked and flapped his wings as if to signal to her that it was time to leave. She just kept grazing, walking behind him. He honked once more, and then took off!!... She stopped grazing, and looked up to see him flying away.

He kept flying. She kept watching him. He was gone. She stood in the same spot looking toward the sky, as if she was trying to command him to return and get her.

I sat and watched her for over 20 minutes, not sure what to think or expect.

She continued staring up at the sky from the exact spot where he left her.

Of course I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t do some narration in my head as to what she must be thinking, and what he was going to think when he turned around and she wasn’t there. I giggled... Aahh couples.

Anyway, after I found some humor in the situation, I started to get concerned for her. What if she has eggs in her and now she lost her mate?

She still stood there.

My internal dialog went something like this:

"What should I do?"

"Nothing, Meg, you have to let nature take its course."

 "I know...The poor thing!"

Just then, after 20 minutes, I heard a honk, and she looked up towards that honk.

Oh, please let it be her mate!

He flew in and landed right by her side, and without missing a beat, she resumed grazing, barely acknowledging him. He lowered his head in a sign of aggression and I wondered if maybe that wasn’t her mate, but then he calmed down as she kept grazing.

 I thought to myself, she really looked worried while he was gone, but as soon as he showed up, she acted like she didn’t even know he was gone. Silly Goose!

They waddled toward the pond for a quick dip, and then, together this time, they flew off in perfect harmony.

Next Steps

 


Included in my severance package, was a subscription for a career placement company, and to kick that service off, I had to sit in on a webinar to hear what they had to offer.

I had been so busy with the holidays, and a relentless cold, that I didn’t have much time to think about my redirection from my Corporate America role to my unemployed role, so, when the call came in to set this webinar up, my gut immediately reminded me of which role I was now playing.

Oh, yeah, that…

So, finally, after a less than professional start to their webinar, I listened to the company talk about what steps needed to occur to get ready for my next job search. Truthfully, I didn’t want to be on this call; I didn’t want to be in this position, but I knew the value of their service, so I sucked it up and tried to make the best of it.

They talked about the importance of networking, LinkedIn and all of  the Social Media channels, the elevator speech, resume writing, interviewing and on and on; all topics that I was aware of already, all topics that I didn’t want to hear about right now.

What was wrong with me?!

Now, only half listening to the webinar, I stared out the window and watched a Red Tail Hawk floating on the wind, searching the ground below for his next meal. I thought to myself, he is sending me a message; “Fly and follow your passion, Meg!” and I thought to myself “Yes, that’s what I want to hear about right now!”

My prior career had never been about my passion, just a means to an end. And with that fleeting thought, the Hawk then flapped his wings furiously, which I interpreted to mean “You will have to work hard to get to your passion, it’s not as easy as my soaring in the sky appears”

That’s okay, I am okay with hard work if it means finally getting to my passion.

To those who think I am crazy, I stand behind my belief that we are always receiving signs and messages from the universe, but so many times, we choose to ignore them. I choose to watch very closely for signs, probably too much, but I don’t want to miss anything important, and I would like to point out that as soon as that webinar was done, I didn’t see the Hawk anymore.

Coincidence? I think not!

So, what are my passions, and next steps? Well, I am passionate about many things, but I am also very practical, so I am taking a two pronged approach to this. I am going to fully utilize the services offered to me and continue to look for a career in Corporate America, hopefully the creative side of it this time, and for the first time in my life, I feel that I am finally brave enough to pursue my other passion in writing.

Writing about what? Well, that’s still to be determined, but who am I to argue with universe.