Good-bye California

Outside of a few short stints in Arizona in 1989 and 1992, I have lived my entire life in Southern California. Long Beach, Lakewood, Cypress, Placentia, Yorba Linda, Anaheim and Irvine. This region is amazing, beautiful, climate-blessed, and a picture-perfect place for locals and those to dream to live here.

But I’ve always told myself that I didn’t want to spend my entire life in the same place. This world is too diverse and exciting to not experience more of it. But life gets busy. Distracting. Fulfilling. Comfortable. Major life changes happen (I'm certainly no stranger to them!), and I found myself clinging to familiar for stability.

Until, of course, I decided to take a calculated leap of faith, bet everything I had on myself and my dreams, and start a business. Things were going amazingly according to plan and my visions and dreams were tickling my fingertips. I was on the brink of major business breakthroughs and growth, and then…

March 2020.

Oops.

Not only was I immediately quarantined with the college-aged daughter of my best friend, whose university had all students leave their dorms and move to an all-virtual environment (I adore her and we’ve both appreciated having each other for company!), but meetings and business negotiations immediately cancelled. Plans and contracts-in-progress were postponed, delayed, or worse, also outright cancelled. Blah, blah, blah, like so many other small service businesses. My situation was and is neither unique nor special.

But rather than allow panic to set in or get upset and distracted, I flew into action to pivot my business focus and applied for the much-touted government rescue assistance. I felt a powerful rush of excitement and opportunity. But all these things take time, and we all know the hiccups of waiting on the government (particularly when you figure out you don’t exactly qualify for most programs because you have no employees).

And then… I remembered my apartment lease is up in mid-June and my project management brain kicked into action. Do I re-sign? Find another place? Or…what are all my options?

Then I also remembered my other, almost lost-in-the-mix goal - to move away from California.

Wait - what? Now? HOW?? My income had just come to a screeching halt…that’s too risky, even for me.