Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Making a transition


I spent the day training for my new job. The person I am taking over for is retiring. She is an expert at the job - she pretty much created it, or at least, was present at the creation, some thirteen years ago. She knows all the nuances and subtleties about it.

When I first visited her office - which will soon be my office - I saw she had a framed print on the wall. It was a picture of a sunny beach, the ocean, and two Adirondack chairs, empty, facing the water. I remarked on it, and she said that whenever she felt stressed in the job, she'd take a moment and look at the print, imagining she was sitting in one of those chairs, and it would bring her back her sense of equilibrium.

Funny thing - coincidentally, [The Man I Love] recently hiked to the viewpoint at Tuna Canyon and sent me this photo.

I told my colleague that I would replace her framed print with this photo, framed. After all, she had established a great tradition that needs to be carried on.

2 comments:

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

I need to find a picture that does this trick for me.
I am also replacing someone at a job. In my situation, she had 12 years in which to adjust to increasing responsibilities. I am walking in with only the basics mastered and the rest is wrestling with my brain to master me!

I imagine that you are more than competent to fill her shoes.

Claudia from Idiot's Kitchen said...

I'm just catching up having been out of town and didn't know about your new job. Congratulations! I'm sure you'll be great.