You're reading Sentences, etc., a design and development blog by Justin Michael.

What's Next?

On Saturday I learned that my last day at work will be this Friday. The company ran out of money, and simply can’t afford my salary any more.

It was a great job. I was working on some really great stuff with some truly outstanding people. Suddenly it’s all stopping. It’s a very strange feeling.

I’m still processing what happened and coming to terms with this new situation. I have a lot of feelings about a lot of things. There are things to mourn, things I’m angry about, things I’m sad about, things I’m frustrated about, and then there are all the feelings I don’t quite have words for. I’ve been pretty calm about the whole thing, but I am a very calm person.

Honestly, I’m kind of looking forward to the possibilities and the adventure. Don’t get me wrong; if it was up to me, the company wouldn’t have run out of money, and I’d still be working there.

I’m giving myself a few days to wrap my head around all of it. I need to examine the situation, learn whatever lessons this experience has to teach me, feel the feelings, and move on. This stuff needs to be worked out at some point; best to do it now. I’m going to need a clear head to figure out what’s next.

I don’t have much of a plan yet, but I know this: I need to take as much control of my own destiny as possible. I’ve been in too many situations where my life has been forced down a different path because of factors outside my control. I know that there will always be factors outside my control, of course, but I need to reduce them to an absolute minimum.

I need to be my own boss. I need to run my own company, generate my own revenue, and have that revenue come from as many tiny sources as possible. I’m not quite sure what that looks like yet, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be some mix of teaching, services, and apps (with maybe some products thrown in here and there).

Losing my job wasn’t up to me, but what’s next is up to me. This is a chance to shape my future and build a better life.

Who knows, I might even start blogging again.