Comfortably Uncomfortable
by Lauren Melcher & Jen Dotson
A year ago, everyone was telling me "oh, you'll just love going abroad - it will change your life!" I got so used to hearing it that I didn't question it... because, obviously, how could I come home from three months in Europe the same as when I left? Well, of course I changed. And of course, the essential parts of my character stayed somehow the same - only, better, I think, from my experiences. The challenge in coming back to "real life" was not that I missed the places I had been (although I did miss them dearly), but that I missed the constant change of travel. I was, in fact, addicted to change. I suddenly could not imagine a life in which I did not get on a train and go to a new, exciting city every three or four days.
But I should never have worried about not finding enough "changes" in my life back home. Every day that I walk into the Alive office or open my email, something has happened to change our plans - for better or for worse. With our feet in both the worlds of non-profit organizations and publishing and design, there are challenges - and rewards - that Jen and I could never imagine. The scenery isn't quite the same as it is from a train speeding across Switzerland, but the excitement now is in never knowing my destination. We are so excited about the ways Alive has grown this year, and we hope you love the new changes as much as we do.
- Lauren Melcher, Managing Editor, Alive Magazine
Change. The inevitable growing pains of adolescence turning to adulthood, seasons blending and changing before you are ready for them, and inner tensions spilling out into personality. Sometimes change is outside of your control, and other times it comes as a result of that horrid little word--you know, the one that keeps me staring at menus until the last possible moment and standing at crossroads until I’m about to get rear-ended by a truck--that despicable and wonderful little word, choice.
I’ve never been good at making decisions. Choice, in my mind, means possibility. Choice means challenge. Choice, to most people, requires saying yes to something and no to the rest, but in my stubborn, idealistic world, the definition has never seemed so concrete.
Choice means juggle.
I’ve been enamored by these resonant little words lately, change & choice, as they segment our lives into memories and bookend our chapters with transitions. In the years following college I spent time working for a major technology corporation and volunteering for Alive on a part time basis. In the past several months I’ve had the opportunity to go full time with Alive and, while the decision was easy enough
to follow my passions into leadership of this growing publication, the choice came with its own share of challenges.
As a young adult, it is overwhelming to realize that my priorities now (including choices in career, lifestyle, and how I spend my time) will form the habits and patterns that will carry with me throughout my life. But in all my growing pains, I am coming to understand change to be my most trusted constant, and to approach every choice as an opportunity, not a burden.
- Jen Dotson, Creative Director, Alive Arts Media
Published September 16, 2007. All rights reserved.