Hello again!
My last post on here was about 4 months ago when I said I would be taking a bit of a break. I wasn’t sure how long the break would be, but I knew I was becoming burned out with this blog and I never wanted to write just because I felt like I had to. But I felt motivated to get a new post out today for a few reasons.
First, today is the 12th anniversary of starting this blog! Even though I haven’t kept up with daily posting, I still wrote over 2900 posts here over those 12 years! That’s impressive to me considering I didn’t know how long I’d be able to keep up writing. So much has happened in my life over the 12 years since I started here. I know that there were so many times that writing out my thoughts and feelings was what helped me get through whatever was happening in my life. The blogging world introduced me to so many amazing people through different events and groups I got to be a part of. No matter what ends up happening with this blog, I am forever grateful for the time that I have been writing because of what it brought to my life. I still don’t know what the future exactly holds for me with this blog, but I don’t plan on bringing down the page any time soon as I can see that people are still discovering it and enjoying what I wrote.
The second reason I felt motivated to write a new post is because today is my first day of unemployment from what has been my main day job for almost 4 years. There was a layoff at this company and I was one of the people affected by that. It wasn’t expected and I think I’m still in a little bit of shock over it all. I know this wasn’t due to my work or what I brought to the company, so I do wonder if maybe they’ll change their mind and re-hire me soon. But I also know I can’t just think that so I have to get back to looking for a new job.
I do still have my part-time job and I have asked to see if I could get more hours there. I also will be filing for unemployment this week, so that will help me a little. But I know that I cannot survive on just that little income alone so I need to be very proactive in looking for work.
This is different from the last time I was unemployed, which was in 2020 due to the pandemic. The amount we get paid for unemployment is much less because 4 years ago they gave more than double the normal amount because of the pandemic assistance. Having that much more in unemployment made those months much easier to get through. I don’t have that luxury now. But I also know that the job market isn’t quite as bad as it was in 2020 either. So I’m hoping that I’ll be able to find a new job soon or somehow my old job will hire me back quickly.
And I do plan on trying to stay busy while I’m out of work. I still have my workouts, although I’m looking at going a little later in the morning so I can sleep a bit more. I’m going to spend time every day looking for work, but I’m hoping I can also find cheap or free ways to stay busy and see my friends since that’s something I know I haven’t done as much with a full work schedule.
I know that I’ll be ok and I always manage to find a new job, it’s just so scary when you really felt like your job was secure and then you find out that it wasn’t. I know that many people at my job wanted me to stay, but due to factors out of our control, that just wasn’t an option. I’m very lucky that I can ask family for help if it comes to that, but I’m going to do my best to not rely on other people. I don’t like asking for help, especially financial help, and I want to get back to a situation where I feel like I can manage life the way that I have. And maybe I’ll find a job that is a better situation with higher pay or fewer hours. You never know. I felt like I was in a good situation before the pandemic and then I got into a much better one when I was hired for the job I just lost.
I’m not sure if being unemployed means I’ll start writing on here again regularly, but it has felt nice to write this post and get some feelings out. I might just write when I have something to share or I might go back to just posting twice a week or so. I’m going through a fresh start with my work life, and it’s feeling like a little bit of a fresh start on this blog to kick off the 12th anniversary.
You Might Also Like
Next Month Will Be A Bit Of A Fresh Start (or What Is Coming For This Blog)
8 Years In (or Another Blog Anniversary)
Another Blog Anniversary (or When Will This Stop Surprising Me)
Always Wondering About The Future Of This Blog (or Not Sure If It’s Time For A Change)
5 Years Old (or My Blog Is A Kindergartner)
Going Out Because I Blog (or What Came First?)
