Sara and I were sitting in the small town park of Monticello, UT on September 22, 2008. We’d just driven on our BMW motorcycles from Moab, UT through a cold, cutting wind and were making our way to Pagosa Hot Springs, CO. We pulled over to a gas station, got some hot water to make tea, and walked across the road to a small park. It was 9:40 am.

A rose garden was there in this quaint, small park and there was just a bit of life left in the roses. The wind was still strong, and with hands cupped around our tea, we made our way to a picnic table to settle ourselves. Now, 9:42 am.

We were there for a pause–to watch and listen for a few minutes as the autumn equinox rolled in. And there it came. The wind died quickly, the anointed moment came, 9:44 am, the stillness spoke, a minute lingered in stillness, the autumnal equinox rolled in, and the wind picked up again. And so did we. We mounted our bikes, and headed east.

Why were we there, and why did we stop? From the perspective of nature, the autumnal equinox ushers in a new cycle. And just as we can welcome the start of a new cycle in nature, we can ask for a new cycle for ourselves. We were there for both.

We really didn’t know what we were asking for. At least I didn’t. But we asked for the new to come in. And if you don’t know what you are asking for, it is awful hard to be disappointed. I haven’t been.

What I wanted was a new direction in my work and life. Fired from my corporate job seven years ago, I’d built a successful business consulting and executive coaching business. But it seemed like there was more. Further, Sara and I wanted to create a new life, to move from the beautiful high desert of Santa Fe, NM to the verdant Willamette Valley between Portland and Eugene. [Yes, we know it rains there 210 days out of the year.]

The reason this is relevant to this first post and this blog is that here we are, six months later, March 20, 2009 at 4:44 am on the vernal equinox, the time when nature shifts (springs!) from intent (autumnal equinox) and design (winter solstice) into manifestation. It is arising. And the statement of my desire six months ago in that small-town Utah park is taking form now.

My life is changing. Sara and I now live in Oregon. And we are close to buying 5-10 acres of land here, stepping into a life neither of us have lived and hoping that friends and family will join us in the future to shape a new future together.

My work is changing. I have suspended my business. I now work with one client full time, becoming, in effect, more like an employee. There, I am becoming a leader and a team member of a large transformation effort in a half a billion dollar company. After seven years, I’ve decided to stop teaching leadership and to instead, well, to be one for a year.

This blog is about that journey. What one man is learning as he becomes a leader, one relevant to these new times. Perhaps it is even about becoming a true male, too. I hope you enjoy what I have to share, that in some way you find it helpful, and that you will provide me with your input and your comments along the way.