Ebb & Flow

Work and the economy have lead to an interesting year. It seems that it is either boom or bust and for a while at the end of last year it was bust. My employment gone and the holidays coming. Interesting how I had thought to have a relaxing (if sparse) holiday with family, but life and emotion don't always match our thoughts.

Being off work sounds like a dream. And in some ways it was, but for the majority of time it was simply stressful. The stress of knowing you need to FIND a job, wanting to LIKE the job you have, and wondering how long you can make it without a job...including how you'll rebuild your savings when the time comes.

I have a lot of empathy for those thousands of people who are unable to find work. If you are lucky enough to have unemployment some of these fears can be staved off for a while (longer and longer with Govt. intervention), but eventually without a job they come crashing in.

I had thought that during my time off, however long it would be, I would clean my house, cook and relax. Maybe get back to reading (I'd taken to books on CD in my car because of time constraints) and simply enjoy life for a while. The truth is, you can't really DO that when you are stressed out.

As a self employed individual who primarily works through contract I am used to being quite busy. Not having those long standing contracts and the need to go 'beat the bushes' was mentally exhausting. I'm one of the lucky ones and have to say, when it rains it pours. Thankfully I am working again and at more than full time, at least for the short term. As for the long term, who knows. I'll keep plugging along and see what comes up. I wish others ALL THE BEST.