Recess in the Recession: Mood Indigo

Getting an iPhone was probably a bad idea; it beeps about every three minutes as new emails have trickled in over the course of the weekend. Thea now thinks it is part of me. To her, I am a Borg. Nikole would agree if you suggested I have been assimilated by the Apple collective.

The title of this post is a bit misleading. Four days into life on the unemployment line, and I haven't found myself pacing around the house aimlessly or compulsively peeling paint from the bathroom wall.

I've realized that my biggest struggles may well be staying focused, staying balanced and communicating.

The focused portion has a lot to do with the ever-increasing to-do list that has been developing in my head, and on the Stickies window of my newly restored MacBook. I have lists of posts I want to write for three different weblogs; story ideas for RVANews and Richmond Magazine; Op-Eds for Style's Back Page and the Times-Dispatch; projects around the house and yard; friends to connect with.

But I also have a job search ahead of me -- and far more paths to choose from than I'd like. I'll need to think about unemployment (and the time and energy that will require week-to-week) and whether to continue our health insurance through COBRA at absurdly high rates. I also have some paying work, including some paid facilitation and training, and a few articles for local publications.

Staying focused means remembering that I'm not on vacation, and that my biggest priority is to figure out my next career step -- and make plans to quickly start doing whatever it is I'm going to do.

Staying balanced means tapping the brakes -- not being in too much of a hurry to come to a resolution.

Having conversations and networking is important. My options range from jumping back into the corporate world to cobbling together some piecemeal career out of my absurdly varied skill set. And in between those two choices sit another six, including one or two that aren't even on my radar.

Staying open. Balancing my quest for employment with a quest for clarity and purpose. Exploring pathways and being open to new truths. Embracing the notion that I will learn more from people I don't know than I might ever expect. Keeping the spigot of discovery open and slowing any need for closure is important to me.

It might seem odd that communicating made the list. Heck, it's what I do more constantly than I breath. But Nikole, first among others, deserves to know what is going on in my head -- and deserves opportunities to weigh in, cheer me on and push me to explore new directions.

I write that like it's easy.

Bundle all of that together and it sounds like the task ahead of me is to explore with purpose.

If I explore with purpose, I will discover new things about myself and about the world. If I explore with purpose, I will clarify my destination as I travel. If I explore with purpose, I will welcome others on the journey -- for a moment or for a mile. If I explore with purpose, I will not only encounter my next destination but my passion for that destination will be strong.

Comments

[Carolyn]

You sound like you're so calm about the whole situation. As a journalist who got canned on more than one occasion (how bout returning from Christmas to find you have no job, but the paper was so broke you were owed 6 weeks pay anyway-- they used to request the editors "hold back" on pay so the reporters would get theirs)I had lots of advice for you, but keeping up your contacts and being at peace with your lot is the best thing I can say, as well as not staying up to the wee hours and discarding personal hygeine, turning into a weird hermit who never sees daylight! Maybe this does give you the chance to create your ideal meld of a job, and more power to you! If you aren't already familiar with it, may I suggest Connect Richmond, VCU's nonprofit management program. You prob don't need to take courses, maybe you could teach them, but they have listserves and job postings and would be a great networking resource. I have so enjoyed peeking into your lovely family's world, and know this blog will be a great joy for your little one to read someday. Can't believe she's had such tummy problems, makes my daughter's throwing up seem mild. Hope the new food regime helps. By the way, I found you via Northside news (?) when they reported on Roy's Burgers changing hands. Keep your chin up and keep busy, at it sounds like you've been doing to extremes! :)

[right wing girl]

wow, one gets the sense that you are donald trump....just saying!