Back when I was growing up, what some probably think of as the dinosaur age, we used actual typewriters, with a roller you would thread single sheets of paper through, an arm to then move the carriage to the next line with a soft chime, and a keyboard of metal inked letters attached to keys which you would press. I showcased a picture for those too young to even have ever heard of this machine, let alone its name. Sigh.
It took practice of course to become proficient at hitting the correct keys and you really wanted to be proficient because once the metal inked letter branded the paper, that was it. The only way to correct it was to rip the single sheet of paper out of the roller and start over or back up a space and type over it. However, if you made enough of those corrections, which were immediately noticeable to everyone, you ended up yanking out the paper and starting over anyway. And then one day, a bottle of white out appeared on the desk. Heaven sent, like spandex in the 80s. Then you could swipe a bit of white liquid from that magic bottle over the erroneous letter, blow on it until it dried, back up to the now white washed space and type the correct letter. It was less noticeable than the prior method, but still noticeable if you didn’t wait for it to dry entirely or if your paper wasn’t as stark white.
But Wait! Then they made typewriters with the correction tape built in as yet another key to master. No huffing and puffing to dry necessary. This baby was more like a small square of white tape stuck to the paper for you to hide your mistake and place the correct one on top of. And then we went the way of the computer, where no white out was necessary. You just backed up and did it right with the assistance of a built-in auto correct. The transition was a modern marvel, (for those that had clunked along with the prior marvel).
As above, so it is below. That which has been, will return again. As in heaven, so on earth.” Hermes Trismegistus
As in the universe, so on this planet, we are governed by laws, laws of nature and physics. The law of energy, matter and how it all acts towards one another, the substance that makes up the entire universe and us. There are theories and facts that explain how the laws of the universe work and you may say that like us, the universe self corrects or what we here call Karma. There is a balance that must be maintained, there is an order to things, there is a so-called wrong to be righted. When something happens to throw a wrench in the works – (fun fact: the French word sabotage came from laborers called sabots that would use any means necessary to delay or disrupt production in retaliation for poor conditions, as in throwing a wrench in the works!) – matter then reorganizes itself to set things back to its natural state. As Aristotle said, “nature abhors a vacuum”.
Fast forward from the Big Bang! I am working in my prior job, where I had been for over 15 years, through many mergers and acquisitions, evolutions of Six Sigma, Quality programs and the like. We had just been purchased by a huge global company that spanned more of the globe than we had previously. Our corporate office and staff survived, however the demise of the buyers corporate office and staff painted the transition in a very deep hostile red. I will not forget the day my boss B called me into his office to notify me that they were moving him over to the Global Team and because I was remaining under North America, I would now be reporting to J, who would be taking his place. He tried to bring me with him but could not get it approved under the new organization. I looked at him and said, “you know she hates me”. “Yes, but it is guilt by association, it’s because she hates me. It will be fine.” But I knew differently, and I told him that this was the beginning of the end for me if I had to report to her. Many years prior, J had expected to be given the job that went to my boss and every moment since, she never missed an opportunity to let us both know how she felt about that decision and the two of us, like we had anything to do with it. Now that she was in it, there would be a price to pay and I would be the payee.
Two years later, after several attempts to get me out underhandedly, I finally “heard” the wisdom of the two colleagues I respected and trusted without question, who gently reminded me how miserable I had been, under the current regime, and maybe it was time to go. I knew they were right and after taking a short time to process what was going to happen, and after 17 years of walking these very halls, I walked my last mile. And so my dear dear friend and employment lawyer, Mr. B, having my back, negotiated a nice package for me, and once signed I was gone. The universe had been altered, the order of things disrupted.
I took six months off to clear my head, and when I was ready to put myself back out there, the universe was waiting for me. The first time I went on one of the job search sites, I was tagged, brought in for an interview and given a job at a global tech giant where meditation, yoga and mindfulness were integrated into the work space and the diversity of colleagues from all over the world was a breath of fresh air. I sold my home, moved around for a while, working remote from anywhere that I chose, and loved the work that I did and the people I interacted with. It was there that Ingrid, the person who really pushed me to do this blog, and I connected.
A year and a half after I left my prior job, I stayed with one of my friends and colleagues who still worked there. Catching me up, she asked if I had heard what happened to my old boss J and I shook my head no. She then told me that J had been forced “out” and was gone. Left without any fanfare. The company was announcing it as a “retirement”. They didn’t like her and were bringing someone new in.
Well, Well. Universe corrected!
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