ISO: Somewhere for my Dreams to Bloom
I know I’m not alone in feeling extra contemplative and curious about the state of the world right now. I'm likely not the only person trying to figure out just where I fit into whatever this is either. When it comes to my career though, I’ve been in this space before. Too many times. It’s been a long road to this point and I’m still unable to say I have the answers.
B U T…
For all that I don’t know about the future, everything I’ve experienced thus far has given me a specific clarity on what I do not want. This clarity gave me the courage to quit my job of six months, in the middle of a pandemic without another full-time role lined up. Yes, you read that right, I walked away from the security of a full-time role, financial stability and health insurance in the midst of a global pandemic that’s ravaged the entire world and this country specifically. In ways, it ravaged me too.
Last year I wrote about my layoff at the beginning of the pandemic and a bit about how I navigated my job search. Then I spoke to some joy surrounding a fast-tracked promotion that still means a lot to me for all the reasons I shared in my journal entry. In all of those vulnerable moments, I strove for diplomacy. Being as thoughtful as I could be and careful not to go against any NDAs and unspoken rules of professionalism. I took the high road, as many of us are taught and that remains the goal even as I sit here disappointed.
As much as I can wallow in self pity after being laid off from what was truly my dream job or talk about how frustratingly wrong my following role was for me, this entry is about moving forward. I doubt I would’ve been able to make such a frightening decision without the very experiences I thought would break me occurring just as they did. As daunting as rock bottom feels, the reality that you can only go up from there is so freeing. And I’ve got to say, I feel so free. I feel a resolve about my decision that I’ve never experienced while staring down uncertainty.
So what does up look like? I’m not sure ya’ll! But I have this moment in time to explore. The beauty is in having the room to really search. I have some incredible freelance opportunities turned on to keep a roof over my head. I have this digital journal to continue fueling my creative passions outside of client work and I have all of my past experiences to be that guide towards…actual fulfillment.
I hope the near future allows me to report back about a role that leverages my proven creative strategy chops, critical design eye and interests in entertainment, food, fashion/beauty and human joy. I hope that role respects and encourages work-life balance during and after the pandemic. It would be a huge win for that role to empower change-makers and allow the right ideas to see the light of day internally and externally.
Until then, I’m going to keep working on me and making sure I’m ready to make my dreams come true when the opportunity arises and/or when I create them myself.
Social Media = A Curation: Photos of me after submitting my resignation, before awkward virtual goodbye meetings, my last day, at home in the USVI with my family (I told most of them about my decision when I arrived, well after my last day of work.). Sharing just to say, don’t believe the hype, offline people are experiencing real life.
