Taking the Mountain to Mohammed

Or is it taking Mohammed to the mountain? I always forget.

I've been making a very concerted effort lately to find happiness here in un-Happy Valley. I've made no secret on my blog that I'm pretty much been miserable here. The facts are simple- the job is... well, we'll figure that one out later. And I'm stuck in a social black hole. So I've been trying harder. I've signed up as a volunteer pretty much everywhere and anywhere. And I'm making my own happiness. I've set a few personal goals and I'm working every day on each goal. (more on those later) But three big things happened for me this week.

But first let's back up to last week. Last Thursday I had every reason in the world to just throw in the towel and call it quits here. I really did. But after much prayer and contemplation, I'm still here one week later. And in most certain and definite answers that God does love me more than I trust Him to at times, three key things happened this week to make my life more tolerable and happy here.

1. Back in August- AUGUST- I signed up to be a volunteer with a very well known film festival held right up the road from here. Considering the international acclaim of this film festival, I had no reason to think they would give me a job of any importance, and they probably wouldn't even accept me. I was hoping for a ticket taker or street sweeper job. But after so many months of not hearing from them I figured they didn't even need me for that. (My sources tell me that most of their volunteers are actually experienced Hollywood types who come here on their own dollar hoping for a leg up in the business.) So you can only imagine how shocked I was when they called me this week for a phone interview and then told me they were considering me for 4 positions. I'll get a position for sure, but they couldn't guarantee which one for a few more weeks. Sure, two of the jobs are nothing more than ticket taking, but the other two are just dang cool! I can't wait! 5 days in Park City doing my favorite thing- watching indi films!

2. Also several months ago I signed up with Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Utah. But due to timing conflicts between me and them, I only got in this week to interview with them. I'm very excited to get involved and can't wait to get my Little Sister.

3. Back in DC we had a little thing called the Thursday Night Dinner Club. Every week we went to a different restaurant (usually ethnic, but it was DC and that was normal there) for dinner. No big deal. Open invite. Good conversation and a great way to meet new people. Well, the single LDS scene around here is different from DC, (and LA and Orlando and Houston- all towns I've lived in) and it's just plain hard to meet people if they don't live on your own street. So I put out some emails on random email lists and on a website, set a time and place, and started my own Wednesday Night Dinner Club. I really had no faith that anyone would show up. Because why should they? No one knows me from the man in the moon, and who goes to a dinner sponsored by a total stranger, right? I figured I'd be happy if just 1 person showed up. My spirits totally faltered as one by one each of the friends I thought would come all had to back out. And I was totally anxious when I arrived at the restaurant waiting hopefully for total strangers to show up (I had a sign so they could spot me). It was a huge relief when the first 2 faces to walk through the door were the Dirtius Familius, who hadn't told me they were coming. And then suddenly several more people just walked in and joined us. And my friend Sean came too! 12 people total showed up for dinner with a stranger! How crazy is that?! And all but 1 of them said they would come again next week. So it's on! Next week, Wednesday Night Dinner Club at Bombay House in Provo. Finally a chance for me to make some friends!!

Now it feels like there is a lot more hope here than there has been for the last 6 months. I'm still very frustrated with several aspects of my life, but at least there is finally something positive to look forward to. (and of course I'm excited to make my first thanksgiving meal ever. but more on that later.)