Thank you, all, for your answers.
My 16-year-old daughter would be staying here with her mother, and she’s the one who is excited about my prospects for getting a job anyway and moving. This would just speed things up. My 18-year-old daughter who’s graduating and moving to school on the East Coast is the one who doesn’t want me to move, so she says and whimpers. I think the idea of her home base changing scares her when she’s getting ready to make such a big change in her own life.
I’m a member of the governing board of the community theatre here on the Big Island, and the board meetings have grown contentious and mean-spirited over the last year or two. We’ve had some very successful shows, and an air of unhealthy jealousy pervades the group dynamic. There was a nasty email exchange recently, and when I sat down and looked at the events calmly, I realized that being in this group is not serving my highest good. It’s no longer feeding me creatively. It’s draining me instead in an unhealthy way.
Here’s a kicker. I am scheduled to direct our summer Shakespeare in the Park production this summer. That was decided last year before I applied for the good job with the state on Oahu. Because of the uncertain job situation, I have assembled a top-notch production team including a terrific assistant director, who all know I’m in the running for a job and may move at a moment’s notice. They can all step in and do this production without me. They’re good. They’ll even follow my artistic vision for the show. Moving now means I would hand over my show. I’m very much at peace with this idea.
There are some cons to moving right away. I can’t afford to move all my things until I have a steady job, so I would have the expense of putting things in storage here. I would have to ship my car. If I were to wait to get the very good job with the state, I would sell this car and buy something newer on Oahu. The biggest expense is housing. Oahu is much more expensive than the Big Island. I would have to seriously rearrange my budget to reflect that difference. I would initially be able to rent a room from friends, but I haven’t had an apartment-mate other than a spouse in decades, and such an arrangement worries me.
There’s more information for you all to consider. At this point, I’m toying with the idea of a quicker move than I was first envisioning. I could just give notice to my landlord, throw my things in storage, ship my car, and hop a plane. It’s not the safe thing to do, but it’s exciting to think about.