“What is the most important step a man can take?”
The first one.
That was my first thought upon reading the question in Oathbringer. As it turns out, that was the character’s initial response too. It made me think about some significant first steps I’ve taken in recent years.
- Followed a friend into our graduate program. This was significant because it didn’t match either of our majors, though it was my minor. It was that or law school; I think I picked the right one for me. That was the first step in my career in Information Technology.
- Picked up a flyer for a fan-run Chicagoland convention while I was at GenCon. That convention is long since defunct, but the effects linger – I met my gaming group, and ex-husband, because of that convention.
- Signed our daughter up for karate. It seemed like something good for her to try, and she was interested in what little she had seen (err… Kung Fu Panda). There is certainly an element of luck that went with finding the right school, especially since we hadn’t been looking for one.
- That first year when I decided to clear weeds out of the old garden patch and plant spinach. I’ll admit, I had no idea what I was getting into… vegetable gardening is addictive.
As it turns out, the answer was actually “The next step.” Those were, of course, significant too:
- Interviewing with a Chicagoland company when I finished my graduate degree. Having a degree is lovely, finding a company that will hire you to work with it is even better. And it’s the reason I ended up in Chicagoland.
- The second fan-run convention I attended in Chicagoland was Capricon. Not only is it a great convention, I’ve made friends for life at it. It was an excellent next step.
- The next step at karate was getting me on the mat with her. And again after my accident. That worked out well, I pre-tested for first degree black belt last weekend.
- Gardening has turned into a series of next steps for me. When I moved to my current house, I actually moved a raised bed set in before I moved furniture to the house. It was early June, which is already a late start for gardening, and it turned into a fabulous harvest.
According to my cats, my first step should be to feed them. My next step should be to feed them again. They’re about to be disappointed at least once.