Well, in the not-so-eloquent words of a former favorite student of mine... "I'm baaackkkk, bitches!"
That's a true story; one that I tell to this day when I drop the bombshell that you, indeed, cannot scare me easily because, yes, it's true: I was a public school teacher. This kid stood in my doorway, hands and feet locked on the frame and proclaimed himself back from the depths of alternative school. I kind of feel like that kid right now -- reemerging from five and a half years of "what the hell was that?!" and forging my own way on the most uncomfortable but soul-cleansing path possible.
So what's been going on since March of 2021 when I last graced your social feeds with my musings? You literally won't believe this, but here we go...
2022 was supposed to be a banger. My year. The year that we'd finally rise from the ashes of the "bat virus" and, despite my mom's cancer diagnosis and ex-husband's perpetual substance bender, be a year of positive thoughts and prosperity. As you can imagine, that did not happen. Nope. Apparently I forgot to cancel my seemingly life-long subscription to the lessons and hardships package, and on January 2nd got a call that the ex had passed from an overdose. You heard me correctly; I started the year with a death, and a mere ten weeks later stood by my mother's hospital bed as sepsis reduced her to nothing more than a corpse I now have in a cardboard urn with a beach scene printed on the outside. 2022 kicked my ass -- there is just no other way to say it.
Summer of 2022 was interesting: I was almost a year into my new job but had some misgivings about the owner and some of his, er, personal and professional endeavors. Fast forward to 2023, and not only was I dating someone I'd hired (yes, I know. Not my shining moment), but I was looking for a new job because I'd had enough of illegal transactions, inhumane business dealings, and a man who had more core values than you could shake a stick at but absolutely no intention of living by any one of them, not even in the slightest. While he was building a fake case to claim I embezzled money so that he could get rid of me and continue his torrid affair(s), I was preparing myself to jump ship (admittedly into a proverbial canoe) and paddle my way to something more rewarding.
The next job was great, running programs. social media, and connecting with and helping businesses and people all over the county. I'll reserve my inner most thoughts on this one for my own brain wrinkles (because I'm classy, y'all) and just say that my time was well spent but ran out, and I decided to tackle, full-time, something I'd only done as a hobby up until December of last year; something I'd sort of forgotten I loved and was good at in the four years I was gone: teaching.
Oh, I forgot to mention the part where the guy I was dating and had broken up with after a year (a guy I knew was bad news from the beginning) made a poor choice is no longer with us. That's a story I won't tell here, but man, you can't make this stuff up.
Where was I? Oh yes, teaching. I love it. I'm good at it. I decided to get back to it.
An uncomfortable but very honest conversation and one Christmas parade later, I was off and running, generating ideas and booking workshops for the new year. I worked in more gyms than I can count, took on more one-off workshops and speaking engagements than would be sustainable long term, and somehow have made it almost nine whole months doing something I love. A couple big contracts, some trips for funsies, a Sassy getaway or two, and a new, sustainable gym job that is occupying the time I'm not writing proposals for leadership development, team building, or social media work, and I'm on my way to bigger and better things.
Why am I telling you all of this? I'm glad you asked, and I have an answer: I want to remind you to remember not to forget all the cool things about yourself that make you, YOU.
I love to teach, write, and help people. I spent so long working jobs that shaped and refined other people's dreams that I fell into a pattern of forgetting my own. I felt safe with a paycheck and benefits and never allowed myself to "risk it for the biscuit" as they say, and now...well, now I'm paddling down Lake Unknown convinced that the light at the end of the tunnel is not a train. I don't know that this is the comeback I envisioned, but I can tell you the last five years have taught me a lifetime's worth of lessons about myself and others. No one will ever be able to say I'm not a hustler. 80-year old me will look back and be glad I tried, no matter the outcome, and when those eight littles that my siblings are so gracefully raising ask me, "Sassy, what were you like?," I'm going to have a hell of a story to tell.
If you're into some light reading for the end of 2026, rub your eyes, grab your glasses, and keep an eyeball on the FB feed because I'M BAAAAAACK!
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