# 7am and it's still pitch black outside. My phone says that dawn doesn't start until quarter past and we have to wait until 7:56 for sunrise.
# A good day yesterday: rearranged the bedroom in order to mount a TV on the wall. Went a lot smoother than expected so was really happy with that.
# I'm really enjoying Shadowlands so far, the story is good and the gameplay very enjoyable. I've not made it to max level yet (one more level to go) but that's only part of the picture in this expansion.
Yes, you need to be max level to do the endgame content but you also have to finish the storyline, going through all the new zones, and meeting all of the new groups (called Covenants) before you can make the choices that will affect your abilities and play at endgame. It's a refreshing change with everyone having to go through the same process regardless of ability.
# Well, it's now 7:15 and can't see any evidence of dawn.
# Poignant.
A concept worth understanding: Dignity of work. Most people confuse work with just a simple economic activity. In reality, it is about self-worth and pride in what one contributes to society at large. A lack of dignity of work leads to a slow erosion of self, no matter how much money/handouts one might get.
From Om Malik's "Worthy Five" as published in Kai Brach's Dense Discovery newsletter.
# Dignity of work - it's something I've thought about a lot in recent years and an fully cognisant of it (or lack of) having an impact on my sense of self and worth.
The unfortunate position for many is that work functions as a way to pay the bills, keep the lights on and feed the family. It is a necessity, not a vocation.
Once you have been embedded in a role for any significant period it is often hard to switch from that simple economic activity to something more personally and socially fulfilling and still be able to pay the bills and feed the family.
It should be easier.
Comments
# I thought I was going mad and had lost a post. I definitely remembered typing it and what I'd linked to but couldn't find it by searches or manually. Then it suddenly dawned on me this was because it was the muse-letter not a post. Panic over, I'm not going crazy. Well, no more than usual.
Yeah, I'm going through that at the moment. I'm really struggling with my day job, and although there are other jobs I could take that might give me a new lease on life for a while, I don't just want to jump from one frying pan into another.
So I've decided to start freelancing after hours again (https://chrislt.com). I'd love to have a niche, but that's hard to decide right at the start. So I thought I'd throw the nets wide open, try a few things, and see what I like and what pays well. Then pick a niche.
Had you considered doing something similar? Admittedly it's a struggle when you've done a full day's work to consider doing more work in the evening, but it's a light at the end of the tunnel.
The question remains: what? I'm not sure there's anything I could really freelance as. Sounds a bit bleak but I've been stuck up a skills cut-de-sac for so long.
There are always skills and experience you have. The trick is to see outside the box you've been in—to think about which of those skills are transferable. (There are just about always more than you think there are.) Sometimes that requires input from other people (e.g. a career coach or an objective friend who can see what you can't); other times you have to do some exercises to make the connections. Maybe something like this might help: https://www.ekigai.xyz/ (Not true ikigai, from what I've read, but it can help.) And, yes, changing career path probably will mean a salary drop for a bit—and some discomfort while you learn. But would you rather sit in a job you hate and let it suck the life out of you? Or feel a bit of short-term pain? I know which I'd prefer.
On the skills front, look outside of what you've been doing in your job too.
Failing all that, pick a course and learn some new skills—some that you'd love to have and that people might pay for. There are a lot of Udemy courses that are still heavily discounted for Black Friday (today's the last day). I'm doing one on choosing a niche for a creative business. :)
Thanks for all the thoughts Chris, really appreciate it. There is one thing I've got planned that's a possible avenue so hoping something will come of that over the next couple of months.
Good to hear!