This past week, as I packed up for our move to new offices I couldn’t help but make comparisons with the job search. For many, the process begins with the rude awakening of a layoff or a reorganization — or even of one’s own choice. You are, whether you like it not, thrown out onto the street…and lucky if you don’t hit your head on the cement sidewalk. (There was less choice in this move than I would have liked.) Then, after you pick yourself up, check for bruises or wounds — or in far too many cases, pretend that there aren’t any — you look around at your new surroundings and try to find a fixed point, a reference point, on the horizon. Sometimes one appears right in front of your nose, but more likely, there are no recognizable landmarks. I remember when I first went out on my own. I found myself in the middle of a parking lot in Newton Centre on a cold, grey January morning thinking…”Shit. Now what?!” Somehow life went on, and I went with it, as I’m certain you will too as you adjust to your new world. The problem is in the transitions. Do you like them? (I’m no fan of them as I can tell by my reaction to this move. Do I really have to pack?) Are you able to easily negotiate the process of resolving the old and opening up to the new? For some, it’s a matter of simply finding a friendly place to hang one’s hat (as a friend of mine did when he found office space for himself within a mile of his home right after his company went belly up). That’s why Starbucks is so popular with the unemployed: a familiar place to start each day, with the comfort of ritual, and the décor of a safe haven. Still, you can’t stay there all day and this is where MPN can come in. Once a week; same place (hopefully, we won’t be moving again for awhile!); some somewhat familiar faces; some new ones; and, alas, the same old bad jokes from the Facilitator. It’s the new faces, the new ideas, and the willingness of members to share and help you move forward out of your comfort zone in an understanding way that makes the difference. They know what it feels like; they’re moving, too, from one space to another (as I am tomorrow, only with less of an impact.) And, yes, for all the bumps and bruises and hard-edged days ahead, we’ll survive and move on — some more slowly and deliberately than others. But remember, there’s MPN, a place where they know your name and remain to help you out along the way. There’s just no beer or wine served— yet!