It’s time someone gave a new image to ‘the jobless’.
When the TV news has an item about redundancy or unemployment, they tend to reach just an inch or two into their image library for monochrome clips of dole queues snaking round the corner of the labour exchange, or clumps of silent modern youth on street corners, eyes downcast. When they interview one of these tragic statistics, we find some gloomy middle-aged bloke on a sofa, as if paralysed by boredom, blaming politicians and cheap foreign imports (both the human and factory-produced kind) for his plight. The scene is often shot in a half-light, or against an industrial sunset, to offer a crude metaphor for dwindling hope and moribundity.
These images of hopeless paralysis and resentment aren’t ones I can relate to. Since the bloody axe fell across my neck, I’ve felt overwhelmed by opportunity. Life has become a firework display of ideas. The chance to start over is a luxury we don’t get very often, and I’m determined to exploit this one to the full.
Far from having too much time on my hands, I seem to be as time-poor as I was in my last job, where I felt myself to be perennially at the base of a mountain of thankless tasks, with no companions to keep me company. (Working from home is not all it’s cracked up to be.) The difference this time is that the mountain road ahead promises much more varied scenery. Best of all, it’s not one path but a whole network of paths, and I get to make the decisions about which direction I take and how long I spend at any particular spot.
One of the things I looked forward to most about this long vacation to the other side of the corporate moat, was doing more writing, and particularly more blogging. I have a plan to put together a new site about running, though I won’t do this until I start running again. (My juneathon has been all biking and walking and gardening so far.) That’s just the way it is. When I run, I write about running, When I don’t, I can’t.
I also have a plan to blog about post-redundancy, and have been keeping detailed notes along the way. And there’s the village website and blog. The trouble is, I’ve always thought of writing-blogging as a pastime; some sort of passive relaxation activity, like watching TV. Something you do after real work has finished for the day. If it ever finishes. Trouble is, it doesn’t, and the stuff never gets written.
Part of my recent researches have included trying to understand web trends. It’s becoming clearer to me that blogging is becoming big business, both literally and culturally. I have to do more of it, and want to do more of it. I wake up early, and am usually out of bed shortly after. I then potter about for 2 or 3 hours as breakfast and the Today Programme works its way through the system. I ablute, check email, surf the web, make my wife’s lunch, perhaps read for half an hour. I will try to use this time more profitably. As an experiment, for the next week, it will be my writing time. The success or otherwise of this initiative should be apparent without having to report back, but that I will do.
In the meantime, if anyone reading this is unemployed, and has trouble filling their day with useful activity, please drop me a line and tell me the secret.
4 comments On No time to muse
That’s well put, Andy. In my recent time ‘between jobs’, life was so busy that eventually I began to wonder how I could ever find time to work again, so I know exactly what you mean.
I’m greatly enjoying your writing here.
Time (and energy) to write is a luxury I can’t afford just now. Like you I also need the lubrication running provides to release my rusty inner writer. Time, energy and lubrication; nope, not much of that around here.
Best of luck EG; I am looking forward enormously to your early morning writing efforts.
Good luck with your new life. I was made redundant 2 years ago and could not now go back to the corporate world. It seems so remote.
As long as there is enough money to keep going we are the lucky in that we can follow our own interests