I reached a point where what the present (and soon-to-be-former) job demanded and what I have to give it are rapidly diverging. I can't meet my bosses' and co-workers' expectations. The demands the job that I could not meet got so significant that I found myself arriving at work daily expecting to get fired. Or scolded. Which royally sucks.
Maybe others can and do deal with the daily potential for firing, but I can't. I live to please other people. Knowing that I was causing grief for others led me to resign. Nuff said about that.
What now? I have been working or enrolled in various schools more or less full-time since I was 16. I want a break. (Lisa and I are lucky enough to have saved a bit that will allow me to be unemployed for a month or so, economy willing. During this time I plan to do some soul-searching. And blogging. I feel grateful for the opportunity.
The questions for me now are:
What do I most need to be doing? What is the best work that I can be doing in the here and now?
Being in the throes of a job (featuring a lingering, persistent dread of imminent firing) did not create the conditions for a calm reassessment of my purpose. Not being constantly employed will help.
Since I am currently thinking about what I really need to be doing I am on the lookout for interesting jobs that other people have. Below are some pictures of guys at work re-roofing the very steep roof of downtown Columbia's Methodist Church. I don't know that I want or don't want their jobs, but what they do certainly is photogenic.
See you in the streets,
Trevor
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| They'll need a crane to get supplies to the roof. |
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| This roofer is about five stories up thar. |
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| Proper footwear is more important for some jobs than others. |
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| How do you know if you are doing the right work for you? |
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| Patron saint of roofers, St. Vincent of Saragossa, pray for us. |
This is a smart move. Momentum is a killer. It can carry you bass ackwards into all sorts of jackassery that you really don't want to be doing. It's gutsy to go jobless, but I do 100% agree that the insight it will afford you concerning your next move can only be had if you're not currently selling your mind and time to someone else. Best of luck Trevor. I'll follow it with interest on the blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your support, Suzanne.
ReplyDeleteI need this work-break for my mind to slow-down from all this artificially created momentum and figure-out what is my highest-purpose. Or whether I should inhale another one of those incredible peaches I got at the market.