Losing My Job and Discovering Life...

Unemployed. We have to do something about that term. I’ve faced it with dread all of my life. What if you’re on the street? What if your money runs out? Then what? Then, my beloved Steemers, you just might wake up and discover life where it’s truly lived – on the edges. Here’s a little about me, and a few things I’ve learned on the journey to date.

Playing It Safe

I did everything right, and played it very safe – two degrees, a stable job, a loyal girlfriend and wife. I was raised in a staunch Catholic family as a kid, and spent many Sunday mornings at church. Education, Religion & Family - it all looked great on paper, but something was always nagging. It turns out I need risk – I crave it in many ways – yet the safe path has kept risk in check. I don’t mean only death-cheating physical risk, but also the risk of new thought. This risk of breaking with convention. The risk of waking up and truly appreciating the sordid game that we’ve tacitly endorsed. Sounds like your typical suburban American angst, doesn’t it? To some extent it is, but in the context of the institutions that continue to fail around us spectacularly, it’s so much more.

…but the World is Filled with Risk

It turns out, the world is not safe – and it never will be. Education has become an expensive and bloated relic. How ironic? We live in the Information Age, yet the cost of traditional education is rising beyond the means of most. Religion is too often corrupted by warmongers and pedophiles. Nuclear and extended family is a complex mix of distance, mutual tolerance and social media outreach. Saved money earns no return, and we must be vigilant about the stability of the banks that hold it. Jobs are often fleeting, and increasingly insecure - more hours, higher expectations and an obsession with short term results. The safe avenues have turned out to be a little dangerous. However, as a great farmer once noted, nature thrives on the edges – where habitats meet, sometimes clash, and ultimately grow. This process is not without risk and injury, but it’s the key to happiness and vitality.

Loss of Safety Brings the Gift of Clarity

Humans under duress often experience their greatest moments of clarity. In fact, when our lives are too safe, we often seek danger to quell our natural need for life on the edges. Sometimes, danger falls directly into our lap. In my case, a promising business opportunity turned out to be a failed venture, and I’ve spent the last six months pondering and re-discovering life. It’s too easy to sit in a cubicle and miss the real story.

What have I found?

1. Our current system is incredibly and irreparably screwed up
2. We will hit a wall
3. Our current assumptions about life will be challenged profoundly
4. We will need to rebuild
5. The solutions for the future are already emerging, but are not well understood and appreciated
6. Family, friends and community will regain prominence in our lives and will be critical to our success – and survival

Shaping the Future

My journey – our journey – has become complex, and often surreal. Caricatures of human beings abound in our public forum, and the rest of us watch it all, befuddled. While I look for new steams of income (the concept of “a job” is dated), I’ll be writing about the issues that strike me, with an eye toward shaping a better future. We can’t look to the caricatures for solutions – they’re just as broken as the institutions they represent. Hope lies within ourselves and with each other. As I re-discover life, and my thoughts evolve, I will share them with my community. I hope you will do the same. Life on the edges can yield some incredible results.

I'd love to her your stories too. Please comment, and let's figure things out.