Take This Leap

It's not often we burst through a door blindfolded when we're unsure where it leads. Most of life has been calculated risks. Even our most spontaneous moments aren't really that spontaneous -- they're events that we decide to do all of a sudden, and they may involve doing something crazy, but in reality they're events that we at least knew something about before taking it on.

I, on the other hand, have committed myself to putting on the blindfold and feeling my way around the unknown room on the other side of the door.

I told my bosses last Friday (coincidentally, on 2/5, which unexpectedly goes along with my theory of 2010 being "my year") that I was quitting. It's not immediate and is anything but simple.

In the TV biz, there are ratings periods when stations battle to get the most viewers -- a higher number of viewers means a higher price the station can charge advertisers. In other words, ratings are big, which is why I didn't want to leave during a ratings period (the current one, February) or give my two weeks' notice with barely enough time to train a new producer before the next ratings period in May. So my explanation is this: if I find another job, I won't leave before the beginning of March; if I don't find another job, I'll be leaving for home in the end of April.

I got into the TV business hoping I could break in as a sports guy. When my resume tape lacked what I needed, I took a job as a news producer, hoping a year or two of general TV experience would somehow vault me ahead. The reality is that it may have held me back. That has nothing to do with the people I work with or the way I developed as a person with this job and everything to do with the work itself. Even before leaving Ohio University in June 2008, I knew I wasn't really that interested in the "news" side of television, yet I ventured into this realm with the thought that I might be able to figure something out.

I never did figure it out. In other words, I never found my passion for it. This realization has really made me think recently about what the heck could ever work out for me. Will I be going from job to job looking for an elusive "passion" sense?? Or will my ability to move on now help me to put this in the rear view and find what quenches my life's passion?? I don't know, you don't know, no one really knows -- but we'll be finding out soon.

Thanks to anyone who's had to listen to me complain about my job (again, the actual news-ness of it, NOT the people!!) over the last year or so. And anyone with a known job opening in Ohio, please let me know. I'm open to just about anything right now.

I'd rather forget and not slow down, which is how I'm approaching the next few months of my life. And if nothing else works out, I'll invest in bags of potato chips and NASCAR. Only in America.