The Labyrinth

As my family, friends, and colleagues know, I have been on a journey to find my "next thing." It's been a long road —or, since I'm a swimmer, let's call it a long swim. It started as a little paddle close to the shore, but eventually led me out into deeper, choppier waters, where I knew I could not touch down. It's been exhilarating, sometimes terrifying, definitely hard. And the best swim of my life. It began a little over two years ago when I took that first call from a recruiter. I was about six years into my “dream job”—the one I’d moved my family across the country for and had imagined staying in until retirement—and it was hard for me to consider leaving. But I knew I couldn’t just keep on. I felt like I was treading water, getting nowhere, and constantly out of breath. Every ounce of my spirit went into just trying to stay afloat, and none of it was renewing. I was on the edge, at least, of burnout.  COVID had certainly made every pain point worse, and