All stories sharing the structure of the Monomyth can tie the start of the plot’s “rising action” to a critical moment, a choice, a response to the Call to Adventure. The critical moment that started my move to Canada came in November of 2020, around the time of my pod’s First Thanksgiving during the COVID-19 pandemic. My co-parent had been looking to make her next career move and was considering two options: either taking a new position located in Ottawa, Ontario with her company that would be focused on their Public Sector business there, or another opportunity that would keep us rooted in Austin for the forseeable future.
The question she asked me that night was: “Is Canada completely off the table?” It was a decision I had to make as the other half of our shared custody agreement. I knew if I didn’t take Canada off the table it was highly likely she’d take that option and we’d have to figure out what that meant. I also knew that if I did take Canada off the table, she’d either take the local opportunity and we’d all end up regretting it, or there was a (greater than zero) chance she’d decide to go to Canada anyway and I’d be back to single parenting. And the thought of single parenting with even less support than I’d had in Michigan was a sobering one indeed.
So I didn’t take Canada off the table, committing us to figuring it out, whatever that meant. The company I was working for had an office in Toronto, so getting myself up there through that path would be a big ask but not out of the question. I could probably start looking into that after the New Year, once my co-parent had decided to take the Canada job.
Maybe a week or two later, a meeting with my boss and HR popped onto my work calendar. Out of nowhere, not even a week after my boss had said I was not included in the impending round of reductions, I learned I actually was.
Now I would be on my own, if when my co-parent chose Canada, to figure out a way to get there myself, if that’s something I wanted.