Relationships

I terminated an unproductive business relationship today. Ought to be a done deal, pun intended, in about two weeks. It took me a while, maybe too long, to get to the brink – I believe in fair chances. But it’s costing me far more in time and energy than it’s bringing back in income, and it’s generating negative PR. I’m confident of this decision.

I’m going through a year’s worth of voicemails today. I don’t expect most of them to be calls I can follow up again, but I’m trying to catch details I don’t always record. A downpour of voices is spilling out of my phone. Some relationships never started – the potential clients never did commit, or I was a wrong fit or couldn’t meet their deadlines. Some partnerships ended poorly – I can’t always predict if I’ll be mismatched in my skills or temperament to someone else’s needs or personality. Some projects took their natural course: my “student” and I finished the work, but I stay in touch, and  I will always welcome a new chance to collaborate. And some people are a mystery: I’ve tried to stay connected, and I’m no longer getting an echoed  “Hello!” I always worry about the people who become mysteries. I’m tempted to keep some of their calls on my phone because then I’ll still have their voices. So many water drops. I have to let them flow away, and it’s hard.