I’m a positive person at the worst of times, so I was surprised that my reaction to the news of The San Francisco Chronicle’s financial problems was that of sheer terror.

You see, I just started writing for them, and was on the path to becoming a regular contributor. My work with them would have kept a good portion of my bills paid for the rest of my stay in the Bay Area.

Because, even though I should have known better, I assumed that some things are permanent fixtures in our lives- The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, The Economist, National Geographic, and of course, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Not anymore.

It’s weird because I was in their offices a few months ago, and got a chance to see the new design before it was launched. So much work, only to face the threat of closure.

If the Chronicle goes under, that’ll be the fourth publication just in the last year that has bought my work and then gone down before publishing it.

Clearly, “serenity” is a word that is not currently part of my vocabulary.

But the fabulous Heather Boerner thinks it should be. She’s started the 30-Day Economic Stability Challenge on her Serenity for the Self-Employed blog, that is a very useful resource for a currently nervous me. And maybe a nervous you, too.

My pick-me-up this week was a call from an editor who phoned to give me an assignment. “If anyone’s going to get through this, it’s you,” he said. When I asked why, he said he thought I was pretty resourceful. “You somehow managed to get from India to Africa to America. I’m looking to you to tell people how to navigate their way through the crisis.”

Right now, I don’t really know. But I’m experimenting, I’m trying out new ideas and technologies, and I’m following Heather’s advice and being good to myself. I’m counting my blessings that I’m in Berkeley, where the best minds are at work figuring out how to keep reporters reporting.

I’ll keep you posted.