Closing Virtual Angel Part I

As of August 1, I've closed my virtual assistance practice ::::sniffle::::: (and I can sniffle even though it's a choice I've made consciously, confidently, and fairly happily). 

I've spent 2006 really searching my soul about what I want, love, need, desire, and am passionate about. Being a VA, while I loved working with my clients, just wasn't filling my needs and desires anymore, and I was losing my passion, a big clue that it was time for me to move on. 

However, while this is a good decision for me, it doesn't mean that it isn't without a small scrap of regret.  (An aside - I don't believe ANY decision can be made without there being some small amount of regret or negative consequences.) 

While I've been planning for this day since the end of April, it hasn't hit me fully until I saw the effect on my day-to-day life.  I knew the effect on my overall life:  huge.  I would have more free time to spend with my husband and children.  I would have more time to read, quilt, run, walk, cross-stitch, and just BE (look for Part II to this post about DOing vs. BEing soon!).  I would be able to delve into Write Well U and lose myself into the world of writing.  Life would be good.

What I didn't realize was how it was going to affect me on a smaller scale.  On Friday, July 28, I started taking care of clearing out those daily details of my VA practice.  I removed reminders of weekly calls with my clients.  I removed those daily, weekly, and monthly tasks I performed as a VA (check website stats, publish E-zine, do invoicing, check e-mail, etc.).  I filed my client notes.  I removed my clients' e-mail profiles.  What I hadn't realized until that moment was how much of my daily work life revolved around being a VA.  "Duh!" you might say as being a VA WAS my work life. Yeah, yeah, I get that, but it was more than just my work life; it was my whole way of being.  How much of my life (working and nonworking) had centered around being a VA and how much that being a VA had insinuated itself into the very fibers of my days.

So now I'm looking forward to a life of ________.  Hmmm, I don't know.  I've spent so much of my life DOing, and so much of the past 4 1/2 years being a VA, that I'm not sure what the next month or two are going to look like. 

Margot asked me what the best thing was about my "new life."  I couldn't immediately answer her.  I've spent the days this week oscillating between wanting to write and feeling as if I should write with not wanting to do anything (and what happens is that I don't do anything except watch TV or read magazines).  Chris tells me that I'm getting in touch with my life.  I don't how much of my life is about watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and 80's videos, but I do know that I've not had much time in my life for just hanging out.

It's that uncomfortable feeling of stepping outside my comfort zone.  And I'm really uncomfortable with that uncomfortable feeling.  :-)  I do know that it's crucial, however, and that what's on the other side is going to be greater and more wonderful than before.

(And to answer Margot's question, the most wonderful thing about my life right now is that I can wake up every morning and decide what I want to do that day.  Space is not just the final frontier ::::another nod to Star Trek:::::, but it's a necessity.)

Comments

[Margot]

Dawn,
Knowing you, your future is a wide open space without limits. You are truly an amazing woman and an inspiration to so many people. I look forward to seeing what you attract into the newest part of your life journey.
Love always,
Margot