In the past three months, I’ve changed my job, my career and my place to live. I’ve left a big company, started a business, given up my apartment, and am planning a temporary move to another state, followed by moving back to the Bay area and then moving in—to a new house we hope to get together-- with my boyfriend.

If someone had told me five years ago that this was where I’d be in my life right now, I would have looked at them in complete disbelief, and yet everything that’s happened (except for getting laid off) is something I’ve created and/or chosen.