I left my full-time job in October 2012 in order to focus on starting a new business. I have a very good friend who I confided in (who also happens to be a fellow UU) and she has been in a position to keep me employed since then, in one way or another. She is a member of the First Unitarian Society of Plainfield congregation and it’s through her that I became involved in Unitarian Universalism in the first place. I am blessed to have a friend who has been so supportive and helpful to me.
Over the last few months I have been working on a project inWashingtonD.C. It has been intense, since I’ve been working 6 days a week. I would come home late Saturday night, unpack, do my laundry, repack and leave Sunday evening to do it all over again. It was a great experience. I learned some new job skills and made some new friends.
So now I’m back, and things are as unsettled as ever. Starting up a business is a fluid enterprise indeed. It’s not a question of if, but it is very much a question of when, and these days my business partner and I are at the mercy of forces that are not under our control.
I am glad to be back. I came to services when I could and kept in touch as I needed to during the life of the project, but it’s been good to be back more permanently, to be present and re-connect with you again. At this particular time, I appreciate how much the U is a centering force in my life. The life I have constructed around the U, my friends and colleagues, and the relationship I have with the congregation as a whole, give me confidence and strength, and optimism, where I otherwise would be frozen with fear.
Whether my partner and I will be ultimately successful in our new venture remains to be seen, but I truly feel that I am finally, FINALLY being true to myself. Even if we fail, and I truly don’t believe we will, I’ll always have a place to go to, a place to call home.
Teresa DeSousa
President, Board of Trustees