Why I Chose To Be Unemployed

Unemployment. Despite knowing better, the image that pops into my mind whenever I hear that word is the same: someone sitting on their couch in their underwear, with a beer in one hand and the television remote in the other. The only thing that stands in between him/her and the Law & Order marathon on TV? A coffee table covered in job applications, résumé drafts, a laptop and perhaps something to snack on. Turns out, my mental image wasn't too far from reality.

The only difference is that I'm wearing more than just my underwear (my appreciation for daylight & fresh air makes it necessary to keep the windows/blinds open).

For the past seven years - my entire career since I graduated from college - I have been a local television news producer. Writing for the news during The Great Recession and in the years that followed, unemployment is a topic with which I am deeply familiar. Not only because I wrote stories about it, but because I experienced its effects firsthand. 

My dad lost his job three times during The Recession. The first time, he was unemployed for about six months. My parents almost lost their home. The day he got a new job, he called me at work. The relief was so overwhelming, I started sobbing in the middle of the newsroom. A year later, he lost his job again, this time for nearly a year! Again I watched, unable to help, as my mom & dad struggled financially and emotionally to cope with the possibility of losing everything they had worked so hard to build. So after going through all that, why on earth would I choose unemployment over a guaranteed job?

Yep, you read that correctly. I chose unemployment. Well, sort-of. I chose not to sign a long-term contract extension. The company that owns the station I worked at for the past three years did offer me one, but I did not accept it. My reasons were personal - primarily that I want a career with a better work/life balance than the news business. Which meant without another one lined up, I was out of a job when my contract expired last week.

I won't lie - the uncertainty of not knowing what comes next scares the crap out of me. I'm not in a financial position to be out of work for more than 3-4 weeks. My family lives 3,000+ miles away on the other side of the country, so moving back in with them isn't an option either.

But I made a promise to myself on my last day of work: that I wouldn't be ruled by fear. That rather than being overwhelmed by anxiety, I would be excited about the possibility of something new. I've never been one of those people who gets scared by change - I embrace it and usually enjoy it. So while I'm actively looking for work and networking, I'm also enjoying having some serious time off to relax. I'm excited to sleep in, take care of myself, deep-clean my apartment, give my cat some extra attention, catch up with old friends and hopefully get out in my community. 

This blog - however long it lasts - will be less about my efforts to find a job and more about what happens when someone used to almost-constant stimulation in a high-stress environment suddenly finds herself with more down-time than she knows how to handle. Should be interesting!