Damn, this hits home! Really looking forward to reading this!
I realize a stable job is a necessary evil to keep a roof over your head and food on your table. Plus, next year, my boyfriend of 24 years is retiring and I'll need to keep him on my health insurance for 3 years until he's eligible for Medicare. It's not the responsibility of …
Damn, this hits home! Really looking forward to reading this!
I realize a stable job is a necessary evil to keep a roof over your head and food on your table. Plus, next year, my boyfriend of 24 years is retiring and I'll need to keep him on my health insurance for 3 years until he's eligible for Medicare. It's not the responsibility of someone who has kids and is on the hook for 18 years, but a responsibility I'm willingly taking on nonetheless alongside the acknowledgement that ANY job is going to take a piece of your time and soul with it.
But it's daunting to be on the brunt-end of questions posed by LinkedIn obsessives who ask you about your "SMART goals" and "five-year-plans" in the pursuit of some bullshit title and additional albatross of responsibilities that eat at your time and brain real estate. I think some folks are well-meaning and assume that a promotion may make you feel more fulfilled. But it may very well be them projecting their wants and desires onto someone else. Maybe they think that a person agreeing that, "Yes! More job responsibilities and less time to devote to creative endeavors -- or even something as frivolous as a bit more time for navel gazing -- is going to make me feel better" somehow validates their feelings. Or, at a more altruistic level, because they think they're pushing you to aspire higher. Every person is different. On one hand, I don't want to judge. But on the other hand, I don't want to be needled, either.
For me, it's time that means the most. Both of my parents had passed by the time I was 30. (I'm 42 now.) My brother and I grew up lower-lower middle class. So, when I started at a decent paying job after wiping shit off my head for a number of years of grunt work, what bugged me was having extra cash and not having my parents around to be able to say, "Hey, Mom! We're going shopping!" or "Hey, Dad! We're going to a concert and grabbing some damn good burgers on the way." And, even now, with my boyfriend turning 62 and occasionally joking about having a finite number of years, it's a specter that hangs around more than I'd like. (Despite the fact that me, my parents, friends, and even the ol' bf all have/had a fondness for warped gallows humor.) It's not something I like to think about, but it's those experiences that make time and the ability to spend it either creating, having room for just experiencing more life, or hanging with people I love that's my driving force.
But when you're bombarded with constant messages about "success" and what people think it SHOULD mean for you, it can be a really tough call to make. So many people have bought into that mentality of a title on a resume leading to a better life, when it's not the right thing for everyone. I'm hoping that with "The Great Resignation" happening, it spurs more people into knowing their worth and taking a more active position in just how much bullshit they're willing to accept from an employer. Might be a pipe dream, but hoping this gives more people leverage to find that middle ground of being able to support themselves and loved ones without sacrificing a creative dream.
Hey, that sounds like my family. When I left the union my parents demanded I take a "withdrawal" from membership, not full-out quit. My card is still valid, "Because you don't just take a good job like that and flush it down the toilet."
Damn, this hits home! Really looking forward to reading this!
I realize a stable job is a necessary evil to keep a roof over your head and food on your table. Plus, next year, my boyfriend of 24 years is retiring and I'll need to keep him on my health insurance for 3 years until he's eligible for Medicare. It's not the responsibility of someone who has kids and is on the hook for 18 years, but a responsibility I'm willingly taking on nonetheless alongside the acknowledgement that ANY job is going to take a piece of your time and soul with it.
But it's daunting to be on the brunt-end of questions posed by LinkedIn obsessives who ask you about your "SMART goals" and "five-year-plans" in the pursuit of some bullshit title and additional albatross of responsibilities that eat at your time and brain real estate. I think some folks are well-meaning and assume that a promotion may make you feel more fulfilled. But it may very well be them projecting their wants and desires onto someone else. Maybe they think that a person agreeing that, "Yes! More job responsibilities and less time to devote to creative endeavors -- or even something as frivolous as a bit more time for navel gazing -- is going to make me feel better" somehow validates their feelings. Or, at a more altruistic level, because they think they're pushing you to aspire higher. Every person is different. On one hand, I don't want to judge. But on the other hand, I don't want to be needled, either.
For me, it's time that means the most. Both of my parents had passed by the time I was 30. (I'm 42 now.) My brother and I grew up lower-lower middle class. So, when I started at a decent paying job after wiping shit off my head for a number of years of grunt work, what bugged me was having extra cash and not having my parents around to be able to say, "Hey, Mom! We're going shopping!" or "Hey, Dad! We're going to a concert and grabbing some damn good burgers on the way." And, even now, with my boyfriend turning 62 and occasionally joking about having a finite number of years, it's a specter that hangs around more than I'd like. (Despite the fact that me, my parents, friends, and even the ol' bf all have/had a fondness for warped gallows humor.) It's not something I like to think about, but it's those experiences that make time and the ability to spend it either creating, having room for just experiencing more life, or hanging with people I love that's my driving force.
But when you're bombarded with constant messages about "success" and what people think it SHOULD mean for you, it can be a really tough call to make. So many people have bought into that mentality of a title on a resume leading to a better life, when it's not the right thing for everyone. I'm hoping that with "The Great Resignation" happening, it spurs more people into knowing their worth and taking a more active position in just how much bullshit they're willing to accept from an employer. Might be a pipe dream, but hoping this gives more people leverage to find that middle ground of being able to support themselves and loved ones without sacrificing a creative dream.
Hey, that sounds like my family. When I left the union my parents demanded I take a "withdrawal" from membership, not full-out quit. My card is still valid, "Because you don't just take a good job like that and flush it down the toilet."