love thursday: the net

When I quit my law job two years ago, I remember my friend Mark telling me, "Leap, and the net will appear."  I love this quote, and at the time I interpreted it to mean that sometimes in life you have to take risks, and just trust that it will all work out. 

And to be honest, I still believe that's what it means.

What I didn't know then, however, and what I've since learned, is the form that the "net" takes.  Before, I just sort of assumed the net would be made up of cosmic coincidences, or supernatural happenings or opportunities that would magically appear and make everything okay.  Or something.  And to be honest, there's a small part of me that still somewhat believes in this possibility.

But the truth is that more often than not, the net has taken the form of people:  friends, and acquaintances, and sometimes even strangers who have extended a hand or a favour when they thought they could help.  I've been amazed at how many people over the last two years have called or emailed or commented or tweeted or Facebooked me, saying things like, "Hey, I don't know if this helps or not, but ..." and whatever they were suggesting led to life-changing career opportunities or even very close, treasured friendships.  And to a person, each of the people who has done these things for me has done so without any expectation of anything in return.  It honestly makes me quite emotional when I think about it.

So, I guess the point of this post is twofold:

First, I have come to believe that when you take the risk to do something that absolutely lights you up -- and it doesn't have to be a career change, but even a simple venture of any kind -- people around you will respond, and help make it happen.  Because ultimately, I believe at our core, we're wired to help each other.

And secondly, and most importantly, I want to express my deep appreciation to all of you who have helped me over the years in so many ways, up to and including all the great suggestions for cities to meet-up in 2011 that so many of you left yesterday.  There is absolutely no possible way I could do what I do without your help, and I can't tell you how grateful I am.

And with that, happy Love Thursday, everyone.

(More on the cities for 2011 to come.)

Image:  Tulips photographed with my Nikon D300 and my vintage 50mm manual lens.  I've been shooting a lot with my new 50mm autofocus lens, but I decided to take the old one out for a spin yesterday.  My word.  I love the new one, but they really don't make 'em like they used to.

Song: Good feeling by Reef