Happy new year!

When I left Adobe at the end of November, I promised myself that I would “take a break” for perhaps as long as three months, and certainly through December. So for the first time in decades, I’ve had a little while without a job, and not actively building a business.

“Work” has always been a major focus of my time and energy. For most of my career, I’ve worked for myself, running small businesses. The past five years at Adobe taught me a lot, and there were some good times, but in the end its final lesson was that I prefer being in my own little business. So I decided to change paths, without being entirely sure what the new path would be.

Taking this month “off,” I spent a lot of time with my family and doing things around the house. I’ve been getting more exercise and doing more cooking.

But did “taking a break” mean staying away from my computer? Only a little. I let myself spend time on what I was drawn to. And I’ve ended up spending a chunk of time on this blog (coding and writing) and on building my first from-scratch Ruby on Rails site (for my brother’s medical practice).

I left Adobe with a general direction but not a specific plan. I’m taking time to talk with lots of folks, learn some new technology, and let my thinking evolve before diving into a new business. I’m exploring hosted web services, online communities, niche e-commerce, and training.

Somewhere in there I’m sure there’s a few good business opportunities. Stay tuned. It’s a new year!