going out drinking with someone i don't know super well purely bc we're the only two people free.... remains to be seen if it'll be a friendship level up or a losercore evening
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Sometime mid-pandemic, I was let go from a poorly-paid writing gig with a rude message from the project lead. The way it was worded, the specificity of the ire, left me crying on my bed. […] I was thinking about giving up and looking for another service job. My dog, ever-sensitive to my emotions, jumped on my bed and lay beside me. I had a moment of clarity: my bosses had always been awful to me. At least now I was crying in my bed, with my dog, after reading a message, instead of in public, at a restaurant, after someone berated me to my face. There is dignity in privacy. The life of the American worker is inherently undignified, but I’ve found solace in the ability to experience that shame on my own terms.
- Becca Shuh
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I'm in a weird mood...
Today, I traveled back to the town I used to live a few years ago, pre- and during covid. Tomorrow, I have an interview where I used to work (and enjoyed working) for more than 3 years. (I moved there for the job, in fact.) I will most likely reject the job if they offer it to me.
Tonight, I got a tea at place I used to get tea, and went for a walk where I used to go for a walk almost every day. (It's a small town. There are not many suitable places to take a walk.) The town, despite some superficial changes, still looks the same as it used to when I left two years ago. It definitely feels the same as it did when I left. In fact, it feels the same as it did when I walked the same walk more than six years ago, when I interviewed here for my previous job.
But I don't feel the same. Tonight, it struck me that one thing had changed in particular. Back then, I used to thrive under pressure. Stress made me excell, made me put in more work and deliver the impossible. I left for that interview the day after submitting my thesis, and I aced it. Despite the jet lag, the language, the lack of time to prepare. Today, stress makes me overwhelmed and unable to focus. I tend to check out instead of leaning in. Today, I need time to relax and recharge and I will take that time.
I wondered at first if I've become weaker. Less able to deal with pressure and stress. Is it age?
Or maybe I'm stronger now, more in tune with myself and aware of my needs. Without going into detail, I'm definitely in a better place mentally now than I have ever been in my life, in many respects.
Or maybe it's all just a kind of survivor bias. Maybe I'm repressing the times that stress made me crash or check out (these definitely happened). Maybe it's just a coincidence, this apparent contrast between me six years ago, and me now.
Food for thought, either way. And maybe a sign to look for a thera again (although difficult in this transitory period of my life...)
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