I hear the phrase “in this economy” three or four times a day. I have friends who have been out of work for over a year. I have friends who have sent resumes to the far ends of the country to find work. I have friends who have sent out over a thousand resumes and have barely scored any interviews. I have friends who have given up their chosen careers to go back to school after being laid off.
Two years ago I was laid off from a job I’d held for seven years. I had spent most of those seven years complaining about the job, but for a couple of weeks after my last day I felt as though I’d been kicked in the stomach. I couldn’t get to sleep until three or four in the morning, and I couldn’t get out of bed until noon. I got back into temping for a few months, but that world had changed dramatically since the last time I’d gone that route back in 2001. Assignments were fewer and far between, and the work was menial and monotonous.
Then a good friend suggested I come and temp at her office for a few weeks. She suggested I could at least get a higher hourly rate than what the agencies had offered me. Those few weeks turned into a few months, and then a little over a year ago turned into a new full time job.
I am ASTOUNDINGLY lucky. I want the universe to know that I am fully aware of just how lucky I am. I do not have an impressive resume by anyone’s standards, haven’t even finished college, but I have a job that not only pays fairly well, but that I genuinely enjoy. I have a theatre hobby/career that has never been more fulfilling. I have an extraordinary circle of friends. I have two cats whom I adore. I have a fantastic wife, and soon we might be buying our own home. I really, really, have little about which I can complain. I am grateful for all of the wonderful things that have come my way.
I am getting ready for rehearsal and watching the snow fall out my front window. Gonna be a good day.
Man, I needed that tonight. Not ready to go back to work tomorrow in this strange place and that helped a lot. Miss you my friend, thanks for the reminder tonight!