I feel like I’m at a seance tapped in to a universe of people similarly disgruntled with their working lives. During the week a friend of a friend sent me this email. My friend’s friend wrote:
“My heart is dead empty when it comes to that job. Worse, I’ve been reading all of these books (Brenda Ueland’s If You Want To Write; McMeekin’s The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women, etc.) and really getting very clear that I am in a role that is not suited to me. So - when do I take a calculated risk and step off? When do I finally bridge the disparity between who I am and what I’m doing career-wise? (Jump in any time if you have answers…)”
I sympathise. A few years ago I felt exactly as this woman seems to. I was dragging myself to work, knowing that it wasn’t what I wanted to do, but not knowing what the alternative was. One day, someone headhunted me for a role at a private company. I was so bored where I was, I made the leap, telling myself that it was the first step away from the magnetic pull of the real corporate. Nine months later I was made redundant.
It couldn’t have come at a better time. (The new job was even worse than the old one, so I was glad to be out of there.) For about two weeks I told myself to hold out and not take the next job that came along. Instead, I said to myself, “give yourself a clearing for something new to show up in”.
That little piece of woo-woo lasted all of about five minutes. As long as it took for fear to take hold, and someone to shove a contract under my nose. I caved in, took the contract (which then became permanent), and over three years later I’m still there!!!
The worst of it is, I ‘m not bored anymore; I really do ENJOY my job - it’s just that I want to do something else more! And to be honest, I DO NOT want work to take up every hour of my fucking day. I’ve never been known for my balance, but I sure as hell am feeling the need.
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rhonda 09.29.08 at 6:18 am
hello–
I found your blog this morning (4am after being jetlagged back from Ireland trip). My husband and I who are in our early 40’s living in the US are going through the same thoughts and feelings. We have been thinking of leaving the US for not only the reasons you site (job stress, living to work not working to live) but also for political reasons now, we are fearing that the Republican Right Wing colalition are going to prevail, which for us, would be increadibly sad and life changing.
No matter what your politics, we sympathise and would like to share information about the possibility of escape from America.
Our friends think we are possibly crazy, or at the least, very naive. We like you, both have good jobs (I work for myself as a designer out of my own office, my husband is a marketing researcher). The money is good, we have a life and friends and a lovely large house with a house cleaner and a dog walker and a big garden. For us, its less about what we have here, and more about HOW we want to live. Living under the constant but nagging threat of losing your job, your house, your housecleaner, your dog walker, etc. can lead to stress that is always there. Would it be better to buy a farm in the french countryside? Who knows. We might want to find out and are doing research.
If you would like to be in contact, we would appreciate the communication and ideas.
Thank you for starting this blog.
–rhonda