Still here, still jobless, not quite broke

Hello, again.

When there’s nothing to fill your days, or to compel you to get out of bed before dawn every morning and set off for work, it’s amazing how fast a month goes by. I’ve given some passing thought to the blog now and then, but I keep waiting for something to happen that would be worth reporting. Although I’m sure you will be interested to learn that:

*I have played more National Geographic jigsaw puzzles online (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/your-shot/jigsaw-puzzles) than a person should spend time on
*I have watched many episodes of Friends and Gilmore Girls
*I have not used my treadmill in long enough that I am embarrassed to type the number of days (weeks?) here, and you’ll just have to take my word for it
*I have knitted at least another 18” of the yellow afghan I’m making my sister as a graduation present (don’t worry—she already knows about it; I had her pick the color and pattern)
*I have not cleaned the house for three weeks
*I have spent quality time with the cats
*I have worked on two substantial sewing projects with my mom (I can sew! sort of);
and,
*I eagerly anticipate the arrival of the first two discs of the most recent season of Weeds tomorrow from Netflix.

As you can see, it’s been a busy month. I have also been reading the classifieds every Sunday and I made a list of possible jobs to apply for, some of which sound kind of interesting. Still, I’ve been unable to work up much enthusiasm for the job search. I don’t know if that’s because I am getting used to having all this demand-free time at home, or if my confidence is shaken after being chewed up and spit out by my last job, or if it’s just that everyone hates looking for work.

My counselor and I agreed that it might be good for me to take a little time off, anyway, to recover and consider what I would like to do. At his urging, I’ve been thinking about what I am passionate about. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

Books
Writing
Art
Music (both playing and enjoying)
Social justice/elimination of world hunger
Animals (especially the prevention of cruelty toward them)
Movies
Food
The natural world (okay, I hate camping, but I believe in the preservation of nature)

I believe I could center my life around one or all of these things and feel that I was working with a purpose.

Also, here are some things I do not want to focus on:

Money
Power
Fame
Cars
Consuming of expensive goods for their own sake

My counselor gave me a book of advertising photographs and asked me to make a collage of my idea of (good) work. (This, by the way, was a really fun assignment.) I ended up making two: one positive and one negative. The negative one has tall black office buildings and people in suits at meetings and clocks and a bag of money with a dollar sign. The positive one has a woman in casual clothes who is surrounded by art supplies, and another woman on her couch with her laptop, and waves hitting a beach, and green trees, and a lighted cabin in the snow at night.

If there were any doubts about my aversion toward a corporate career, I think the collages said it all. Not that I am unwilling to work in an office; and of course I realize I will have to make some money in order to live. (And fairly soon, I must add, if I don’t want to move back in with my parents.) But I don’t want to work in an environment where money-making is not only the means, but the objective itself.

Now that I have had a little time and distance from the Job-that-must-not-be-named, and I have some idea of what will make me happy, I feel (sort of) ready to start looking in earnest.

That said, there’s a job I want to apply for (an administrative person at an arts non-profit), and tomorrow is the last day for resumes. Also, another job I applied for a few months ago has reappeared online. I’m going to take a chance and apply again. Wish me luck.

And I’m hoping to get back into blogging, now that my self-imposed hibernation is drawing to a close, although I can’t and won’t promise to write every day.