Saying Goodbye

I left my job today. It was very strange indeed. I'm moving on to something new in my home town which means I can now walk to work - the long commute is over, hoorah! I'm really looking forward to starting my new job, getting different experience, and having 3 hours a day back!

I had been so eager to leave my job. I was working for an international development and humanitarian aid charity, one of the bigger ones. It is a place of passion and inspiration, and so much of the work they do is fantastic. After eighteen months I had begun to tire of my role though. There wasn't much scope for me to move up in the organisation as I was lacking in a lot of the key skills such as fluency in another language. Whilst I could have taken evening classes to improve this the long commute was taking its toll and I found myself too worn out, with a number of other commitments already, that it was out of the question. My health was affected by the long hours and travelling, which I found to be very stressful. This was coupled with the fact that I was itching to try something a bit more challenging intellectually. I had plenty of challenges in the role, just none that required my degree-level research and reporting skills. That is something which my new job will provide some scope for, and I am looking forward to trying something new.

Despite this, I have left the a place that has actually done a lot for me. It was my first real job after leaving university. I'd done a load of part-time work during my studies, but this job was my entry into the working world. It was an incredibly enlightening and eye-opening experience. I got the opportunity to understand how an international development organisation works behind the scenes at every level. On a daily basis I was in contact with the people who put this work into action and also with those who were offering us valuable support, either financially or through campaigns etc. I also got to encounter all the different office stereotypes - the good and bad - the ones who other people warn you about ;)

And so, actually, although I was excited to be going, I realised this was the end of an era for me. I have made some good friends - two lovely women who I worked on our staff conference with - we became "ladies who lunch". I was part of a lunchtime prayer group that met once a week, I had a friend who described himself as a "discoverer of shadow artists" and once he found out I write fiction we became firm friends :) And I also had a great team - they were only 5 of us, and despite the occasional bad day for any one of us, we all got on really well. I know I was lucky to have such a team, and I don't know if I will find one like that again. I didn't realise that I made any impact at all at the organisation until it came to my leaving... The prayer group surprised me with a card signed by them all and a Bible. My lunching ladies, one of whom was also leaving, surprised me with a filofax because of my hectic life at the moment! My shadow artist friend threw a small leaving tea for me, with an enormous creamy chocolate cake. And my team surprised me today with a lunchtime party in the office and lots of gifts - they had made a special effort to get me fair trade and ethically sourced presents, some of them as joint engagement gifts for me and my fiance. I was so touched by the effort they had made. I know when people leave somewhere they do get a lot of attention, cake and presents are common, but even so, I felt like I had received far more than I deserved, and I hadn't been expecting any of it. I didn't cry over any of the gestures, but it did emphasise for me how blessed I have been over the last almost two years I've been working there. For all the ups and downs I have a lot to be thankful for - this was something I believed I needed to see before I left, and the last two weeks, as I prepared to leave, highlighted this for me more than ever. Hindsight is wonderful thing - I need to remember that more during the rubbish times.

So, it's not "goodbye" it's "see you later". I have lots of happy memories, and I know that I've also gained a lot of valuable experience - both work and life wise - that I would now be lacking if it hadn't been for this job and the people I have met through it. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. As with everything that's happened to me in my life so far, this is further proof :)