Museum Babe

With the decision made, I parked my car in the Panda Express parking lot to help me stop shaking and called my mom.

I had no reason to be anxious or have a panic attack. Everything happening was good, but things were changing. Change is hard, and my anxiety was already at an all time high. Weather or not is was from over caffeinating I wasn’t sure.

As we spoke mom reassured me. She understood that I had more options to grow at the museum than at the gym. She knew the museum was my passion and happy place. The fact that they wanted me there more was a huge deal, and she knew that I was burned out on having two jobs and pretty much no free time.

Ultimately, I missed my family and freedom, and getting some of it back was the biggest draw for me. That and the thought that I’d probably take better care of myself if I had the time and less burnout to deal with. My husband already prepared himself for getting me on his insurance. The family was supportive.

All the preparations were in motion.

As I was at the desk at the gym I prepared myself to write my resignation email. I started to tell my coworkers. Most of them were supportive. Some were obviously stressed out about me leaving and how the schedule was going to be reworked. Which was entirely understandable. It could directly affect their lives and schedules a lot.

Still, I wasn’t going to let their stress get to me. I had to do this.

The gym has not been bad to me. I missed having family time in the evenings and on weekends because of my schedule with them and the museum simultaneously, but honestly it was one of the most socially healthy places I had ever worked besides the museum. Everyone gets along pretty well. The pay is very good. Conflict is scarce. Everyone has great work ethic and works well together. The company wasn’t bad either, good benefits, lots of perks, and low exploitation rate for the most part. Even the members are pretty good. Many showing their appreciation or at least verbalizing it to let you know what you do is worth something to them.

The place is just full of really good and kind people, which made leaving it somewhat a hard decision….but not too hard a decision.

I like the gym, but I love the museum.

I love the museum so much that I’ve volunteered for over 7 or so years and did all the things I’m doing there now for free. It’s my dream job. Why wouldn’t I want to be there more?

The museum just makes the most sense for me.

Besides proximity and hardly needing to use gas to get there, it definitely lines up more with my goals and design experience to be at the museum. I love my coworkers and have been working with them for a few years now, so we already know each others nuances and personality quirks. We’ve been there for each other during good and bad. We have seen a lot of life happen to each other. It’s like family now, but with better emotional boundaries and a lot less trauma.

I’m really excited about everything. I’ve only got 10 days left before my last shift, and I only work 6 of those days at the gym. The rest are at the museum, and I’m loving my time there and really looking forward to continuing my journey with them.