Since moving to the Emerald City in 2010, I've become a huge supporter of the Seattle Sounders FC, our resident professional (MLS) soccer team. Last fall, I suggested to my husband that we purchase season tickets to the Sounders. Due to the Parade of Visitors (the 12 sets of people who came to see us between April and September), we were making an effort to stick around over the summer and not do a lot of big travel. We figured soccer tickets would help pass the time.
This investment turned out to be awesome. Going into the season, which began back in March, I liked soccer and understood it reasonably well. My brother was a soccer player growing up, and I went to a lot of his games, as well as following the World Cup here and there. I appreciated the sport. Over the course of the season, though, I've come to love the sport. It's surprised me to some degree, how big a fan I am at this point. There are lots of things I love about it - number one, our team is really good (finishing the season #2 in the MLS, if all goes accordingly). Number two, Seattle has a lot of pride in the Sounders, and we have the biggest following in the MLS, with more tickets sold and higher attendance per game (by a LOT) than any other team. It's pretty cool to walk around town on game day and see tons and tons of people wearing green and blue, and know that our following is as big as basketball or football or any other pro sport in most cities. It's fun to feel part of that community of people who love their team and love Seattle. And number three, the players are ridiculously attractive. Let's not underestimate the power of number three.
Saturday night is our last regular season home game, and we'll be honoring our amazing goalkeeper, Kasey Keller, who is retiring after this season. I fully expect a little sports-crying, even though I'll get to watch him in both the CONCACAF and the MLS cup playoffs in the weeks to come. Kasey is a huge asset to our team, arguably our most valuable player, and he's going to be really hard to replace. But also, I'm sad that the season is coming to an end. I know, it's a long season, and my wait for the start of the next is pretty short - friendlies start in February. But still - it'll be a long, dark off-season.
I was thinking about all of this the other day as I made my commute to work, which involves a short bus ride and then a 15-20 minute walk. I realized that I kind of feel, in my personal life, like I've just come out of an "off-season" of my own. When I moved to Seattle, it was with great excitement. I supported my husband in his career move, I was honestly thrilled at the chance to move to the Pacific Northwest, a place I'd heard so many amazing things about and had already come to love after just a couple short trips. I was even ready to leave my old job behind, even though I really loved it and I still miss many of my coworkers eighteen months after the fact. I knew this would be a challenge, moving across country and being so far away from our friends and family, having to start over entirely - but I felt up for it.
When we got here, it took me a while to find a job - not a surprise, given the economy and the fact that I feel pretty strongly about working for non-profit organizations and preferably colleges or universities. But I thought, I'm not going to let being in the off-season stop me. I started a little business spinning yarn, which has been a lot of fun and a source of much-needed and appreciated side income. I eventually found a temporary job at the University of Washington, and though the job wasn't quite what I'd been looking for, I met some really lovely people, some of whom have now become real friends. I continued doing freelance graphic design work. I traveled a TON. It wasn't a bad time. In fact, it was pretty fun!
But I was antsy. I really felt like all the pieces were there - I was making friends, I was putting a toe in the pond of the professional community - but things just weren't quite coming together. I wrestled a bit with what I wanted to do professionally and personally, from jobs to raising a family to going back to school - you name it, I considered it and asked myself what the next step should be. As our old pal Dickens said, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" - because even as I was questioning what was next for me, I fell head-over-heels in love with Seattle. I feel more at home here than I have ever felt in any place I've lived - and this is my 8th city of residence, so I feel like I have plenty of experiences to compare. It was like, in my off-season, everything I needed for bliss was right there in front of me, if only I could figure out how to put it all together.
This fall, I feel like that really happened. I found a new job that I'm enjoying. Like any job, I'm sure it'll have its ups and downs, but I'm busy and I feel useful. These are good things. And I'm surrounded by really, REALLY nice people here, both professionally and personally. Jay and I have made some great friends here already, and I'm encouraged by the number of people who want to visit us here too. It's sort of amazing. Some other questions have started to be answered, things that have been on my mind for ages - I don't want to say too much yet, but I feel whole again. It's like I can finally see a path for myself. It's not a set-in-stone path, it's more like a meandering country road, but still...there are some nifty things along that path, and I'm really excited to walk down it.
I'm a big believer in the magic of seasons - that as much as we need times of revelry, we need times of quiet and solitude, times to consider, reflect, evaluate. Just like the world needs winter to sleep and rejuvenate, just like the Sounders need a couple months of downtime - so did I. So do we all. The cool thing is, when the season starts up again, it's so easy to put on that green and blue jersey again and dive in.
