I’ve been out of work for five month and it not all it’s cracked up to be. I thought, hey, I’ll finally get some time to myself and to focus on my craft. No more spending 4.5 hours on the freeway and more time to focus on my health and my writing. Everything I thought I was going to get to do turned out to be everything I haven’t gotten much time to dive into.
Wait, I lied! The first month of being off was great. I still had to wake up and do school drop-offs but I had time to do other things. I started that YouTube channel, the one I told you guys I decided to delete, I got to go on a few hikes and I was able to take all the naps I wanted. And I can’t express to you the joy I felt not having to put gas in my car every two days. I mean not having a job was great, but of course life had to hit me.
Bills still had to get paid, along with childcare and all that freedom I was getting came to a stop when I took on the responsibility of taking care of my grandmother since her caregiver quit. I couldn’t go on my walks anymore because I had to be here by time my mother left for work. I lost focus when it came to my writing and everything else because watching my grandmother’s every move to make sure she didn’t hurt herself or wonder out the house became priority.
I’m so over being in this house, yet it’s impossible finding a job I want and when I do find one I like I get that dreaded “Unfortunately” email or simply don’t hear back about it at all. Sometimes I get that feeling that maybe It’s not that time for me to go back but I can’t help but worry about finances. I’ve been applying to freelance jobs hoping to land one so I can continue to work from home, or the bookstore, or Starbucks, while I continue to work on my writing and figuring out how to bring traffic to my online store.
I’ve taken this month to focus a little more on SEO, add some chapters to my books I’m working on and push out more blog post for my site. I’ve been a content creator for Queen Media Collective and I’ve even took on the role of Social Media Manager for a blog called Love, Geeky Girl (you can click here to follow our Twitter to stay updated on blog post.) It’s a paid gig, though it may not be much being she’s paying a few of us out of her own paycheck, but I don’t mind because it’s giving me the opportunity to add new skills to my resume. I’ve even been using my Pinterest more to help draw traffic to my sites.
While I’ve been out of work I’m learning and realizing more and more everyday that these are the things I love and wish I could live off of. I’ll get there one day but right now everything seems to be trial and error for me.
So, if you ask me what life as been like without a job, I’ll say it’s still been extremely busy and I’m just waiting to see if I’m on the right path.