There is a lot to be said about the emotional and psychological impact that losing a job has on a person. It really screws with your head. You could have been once a self-confident, stubborn, strong, secure person, well-versed in your strengths and aware of your weaknesses- but not hindered by them. Then you lose your job and you learn what it is to be humbled. You wonder: “What did I do wrong? How could I have let this happen?” And, if it was you who quit: “Why THE HELL did I do that for??”
A lot of us can relate to these feelings, having survived the last few years of this recession. I know I have. I actually survived the recession pretty well; I left jobs out of my own free will for really silly reasons like wanting to be there for my son when I thought he needed me (turns out, he didn’t). But recently, I did find myself in that predicament. I felt out of place at job- one really good job- or just plain tired of dealing with the office politics… so I found another job. Then THAT new job was just a really lousy fit, and so I left.
Being unemployed- or, working for yourself because you have to- is hard. It’s really easy to find you doubting yourself. Envying those who do have jobs, and wondering what the heck you’re going to do next. And everything seems so much worse than it is. Some days I swear I’m going to be sleeping under the park bench by next week…
This state of self-loathing can be severely destructive. People identify themselves with their jobs, and having that taken away is a tough blow. People let themselves go. They enter a deep depression. They can’t see a way out. They stop going out. They stop trying. They stop caring.
Now, I’m not saying that RuPaul has the antidote to post-job-loss-depression, but I found this episode of his show DragU to be …. healing, in a way, to see someone tackle this head-on, and in such a humorous, light-hearted way, at that.
Enjoy, my friends. And ONWARD, always.
The Caribbean Princess's Weblog 