Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The Waiting Game

I was at a party the other week when someone asked me what I did for a living. I had to answer: "Well I used to be a grad student but now I'm unemployed." The guy I was talking to said the average unemployment lasts four months. Still enjoying my joblessness, I gave him a high five.

If I were to have that conversation today, I'd probably give him a fierce backhand. As I head into my second month of unemployment, I'm starting to feel anxious and bored. I've had a couple of interviews, one of which I thought went really well. But even though I was my shiniest, most professional self, neither potential employer has phoned me back yet.

I know that after a week of work I'll be craving the days when I slept in, read books in patches of sunshine on the living room floor, took afternoon walks, met friends for coffee, and shopped for groceries down luxuriously quiet aisles. So for the next days and weeks (hopefully not three months as predicted by party guy), my task is to enjoy my freedom and trust that the right job will come along. My other task is to stop lying around in patches of sun and turn my thesis into a journal article.

2 comments:

Avey said...

If I was hiring someone, you would be my number one choice.
It's too bad we don't live in the same city anymore... we could lie in the sunbeams together.

Paige said...

I know it's hard to get past that anxiety and boredom, but enjoy the freedom and relaxation as much as you can. Work and journal articles will have their place and time!

 
Background by Jennifer Furlotte / Pixels and IceCream