I got laid off, my kitchen flooded & I’m a cool cucumber with a fire inside. Notes on a decade of meditation

At first, meditation was hard.Then, meditation became easier, and things became easier.And here I am in a season where things have been very hard, and the practice of meditation has made it easier. Or at least easier for me to remember who I am and how to be that person.Recently: I got laid off from my consulting job. The company was a rudderless ship, smashing into the rocks into a storm, with people overboard, including myself. A career adjustment is underway. I’m actively developing my next set of consulting projects and exploring FTE roles where I can contribute. A few weeks into this, about five weeks ago, I noticed water leaking behind drywall in the kitchen. Occluded kitchen plumbing had failed, with an extensive and hidden amount of water damage. Pipes replaced. Walls came out. Cabinets removed. Layers of soggy flooring telling a story from 2026 back to 1953 came up. Ancient psychedelic asbestos kitchen tile is toxic, literally and metaphorically. Time for mitigation, repair,…