reflections and a fresh start

I'm sure you're familiar with that old saying - "insanity is the repetition of the same action hoping for a different result." I think my job was driving me crazy on the path to insanity.

Don't get me wrong - the whole experience over the years was definitely positive - but there comes a time when you've squeezed everything you can out of a job. If you stay for long beyond this realization and your daily grind involves trying to squeeze something out of a nearly-dead end job hoping for growth and opportunity...you begin to go loopy.

My co-workers frequently joke that nobody leaves here. And even a couple of the ones that had left... eventually came back. So how did this department became a black hole? Perks and niceties. Even though the pace was hectic, you can set your own schedule, use facilities and resources for personal use...and the people are really nice. So even as the position began sacrificing creative appeal for productivity, there was a certain comfort level which allowed complacency to set in. The pay made life comfortable and I made some really close friends. Friends that shared the same gripes, became weary of the deadline pace and sensed a creeping stagnation. Yet we therapeutically comforted each other, which may have added to the complacency.

Well, in a rapid turn of events over the past 3 days, I managed to leave. After collaborating on a catalog test cover with the marketing team, I became a wanted man by the head of their understaffed department. So, I welcome the fresh start, the new challenges ahead and a truer opportunity to grow professionally and otherwise.

The only negative aspect is that I'll be leaving my close friends that shared my cubicle space. We even joked that we were like a dysfunctional family. One of them told me as I was leaving - "You're one of the few that made it out...Don't come back"