{"id":3636,"date":"2015-02-04T18:34:24","date_gmt":"2015-02-05T02:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/?p=3636"},"modified":"2015-02-05T11:11:38","modified_gmt":"2015-02-05T19:11:38","slug":"tracks-to-a-new-world-auckland-new-zealand-02052015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/?p=3636","title":{"rendered":"Tracks to a New World – Auckland, New Zealand – [02\/05\/2015]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"4e2a89263c7e7c425df1da6bfc62a5fc-d6vrs08\"<\/a>“A new world calls for me to follow<\/em>
\nA new world waits for my reply<\/em>
\nA new world holds me to a promise<\/em>
\nStanding by, standing by…<\/em>
\nIt’s about one moment, that moment you think you know where you stand<\/em>
\nAnd in that one moment, the things that you’re sure of <\/em>
\nSlip from your hand<\/em>
\nAnd you got one second, to try to be clear, to try to stand tall<\/em>
\nBut nothing’s the same…” ~ Songs for a New World<\/em><\/h4>\n

It is never an easy decision to make a drastic change in one\u2019s life, one must weigh the options, test the pros and cons, have endless debates with oneself about whether or not this is really<\/em> what you want\u2026if this is really<\/em> what is good for you. I suppose it\u2019s one of those things that goes with being a \u201cgrown up\u201d \u2013 no matter how close the other people in your life are to you, no matter how much they care, they can do nothing but express opinions and concern \u2013 only you can make the final call, as it is ultimately your life, your career, your whatever.<\/p>\n

So it was that I found myself in my Hotel Director\u2019s office this morning, making the statement that \u2013 if you\u2019d asked me two years ago \u2013 I never would have thought I\u2019d say:<\/p>\n

Sir, I think next year the flagship library will be in someone else\u2019s hands.<\/em><\/p>\n

My decision to take a sabbatical (and yes, it is only a sabbatical, I am not looking for this to be permanent) from the flagship has not come easily; it is a hard won decision, reached after almost a year of flipping back and forth on the options. Leaving will put me back into the regular rotation (Note: I am NOT leaving ships, I am NOT quitting, or going to land, I am merely<\/span> leaving the flagship<\/em>), will mean I work the same contracts with the same breaks as all the other librarians in the fleet. It will mean longer contracts but shorter cruises and fewer sea days. In short, it\u2019s a reset button. One I\u2019m realizing that I need more than I thought I did.<\/p>\n

The flagship contracts are shorter (four months as opposed to the standard six) but there are different \u2013 sometimes more accurate \u2013 ways to measure things than length, and though shorter they are much much more difficult and I come away from them more exhausted. There have been extreme management changes in Head Office, and when Toffy departed my management team I lost an invaluable ally, the introduction of the dual position means that I am doing what was once a four person (two internet reps, two librarians) job alone \u2013 and while that is more than doable and I am certainly competent and capable enough for it, I have been finding more and more that I dislike the person it seems to be turning me into. I miss the woman I am over the summer, with her easy smile and ready laugh. I\u2019m starting to not see her when I look in the mirror, and I don\u2019t want to lose her forever when I\u2019ve only just found her again.<\/p>\n

There are other factors of course \u2013 aren\u2019t there always? There have been shifts in my \u201coff page\u201d life that I always knew \u2013 if they were to occur \u2013 would be game-changers. Turns out I was right about that too.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be sad to leave of course, this library is my baby, I have built her \u2013 or rather rebuilt her \u2013 nearly from the ground up. I have been given free reign here for the last three years (the first two years I was really still learning the job), and as such the flagship collection contains a wider variety of titles than any other in the fleet. But I have to believe that she will be left in capable hands while I am away. I am important, I know that, but I am still merely one in a million cogs that keep this great ship running, and my replacement will surely bump into place after a while.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve known this was coming for a while now, I started considering it last year and I\u2019ve been considering it ever since, it\u2019s just that recently all the factors culminated to tell me that yes, it was time, this was right for me.<\/p>\n

So, come May, it will be time for this gypsy to start \u2013 once again \u2013 seeing what\u2019s beyond the next hill.<\/p>\n

Carnivale, anyone?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“A new world calls for me to follow A new world waits for my reply A new world holds me to a promise Standing by, standing by… It’s about one moment, that moment you think you know where you stand … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-below-the-waterline","category-grand-world-voyage-2015"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3GtNE-WE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3636"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3640,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3636\/revisions\/3640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}