Following a Leading : a two week update on my Bay Area move

"The place God calls you to is where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

— Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, 1973

So it's about two weeks into my big move from New York City to the Bay Area, which has been really wonderful so far.  Mole and I are mostly settled at my mom's house and I'm starting to feel my way around this new / old environment.  So this is a good time to remind myself about why I left everything behind me and moved back to the Bay. 

In short, I'm following a leading.

For Quakers, following a spiritual leading means to feel compelled to some action by something external to yourself that speaks to your internal condition.  It often involves doing some good in the world, and some measure of risk, that is meant to be shared with others.  For example when Quakers become itinerant ministers or are called to service abroad they are following a spiritual leading.

Mine does not feel quite as noble and spiritual. But it does feel like a leading, in the sense that I feel compelled beyond myself, beyond rational planning, beyond the normal trajectory my life has been directed. 

My next steps are to spend some quality time with myself, talk with people smarter than myself in different fields, go to events where I can get ideas and meet people, and do research into different areas.  My challenge is to trust that there is some calling out there waiting for me to discover, rather than just jumping on the first opportunity I encounter.  It calls me to manifest patience, discernment, and openness.

It's going to be an interesting next couple of months.