Real Cool World

In fewer than 24 hours, I went from this:


to this:


It is positively gorgeous in Denver right now and my few hours in the garden yesterday were just what I needed.

Life is pretty amazing. I believe that you make your own course--the good, the bad--you're in charge of a whole lot of it. Yeah, sometimes the Universe comes crashing in. It's usually when you least expect it and there is often little you can do about it but strap on your seatbelt and get through it, but overall, we're in the driver's seat.

I keep thinking back, wondering how I got to this amazing place. I have a job that people would kill for, in a company people would kill to join. My colleagues are astounding, including my immediate boss.

Funny, he really surprised me this week. I've always liked him fine, but this week I saw first-hand how hardworking and organized he is, plus in the biggest surprise of all, I learned how much he knows about the book industry. He's only technically been in it less than two years, and his knowledge base is much more impressive than I ever gave him credit for. Surely, we are going to have our challenges down the road (we have in the past) but I have a new-found respect for him.

Additionally, we are publishing incredible books on important topics. One book is more amazing than the next. When you're in publishing you don't often have the luxury of working for a house whose list aligns with your interests and philosophies, unless you start one yourself. I've worked on and sold fly-fishing books, legal topics (probate, yay!), and other things that I have zero interest in. This time, I have found the almost-perfect match. If they threw in a few books about trash TV and movies, a few more cooking books, and a book about monkeys, maybe, but otherwise this is a nearly perfect list for me.

And I'm back in the book industry. I've been in it, sort of, really more on the periphery working more in the non-profit world the last five years. I am touching books again. We are conceptualizing titles, developing them, and creating their sales and marketing plans. I didn't realize how much I missed that world.

How did I get here? Hard work and a lot of networking, I suppose, but also I just followed my gut. Each career move for me (and there have been plenty) has been a step up to a better place. My last job was pretty incredible, yet now being gone for ten days, I see how worn out and worn down I was. It was time to go. My gut told me so and thankfully I listened instead of fighting it, as I was inclined to do until this prospect came along.

So, today is sort of like Groundhog day. I'm off for my first day of work (this time in my office in Colorado) all over again and I can't wait.