#38: Patience Is A Virtue, But It Isn't Mine
Sitting, waiting, and thinking is the hardest part. Plus, cheap thrills for minty fresh spring.
Laid Off Life is a place of respite for the weary workforce. Whether you’re unemployed, underemployed, or just trying to make it through the workday, let this be your 5-minute mental break from the grind of late-stage capitalism.
Patience Is A Virtue, But It Isn't Mine
Hello. Hi. Something you should know about me. I. AM. NOT. PATIENT. I move at one speed when I’m working: FAST. I want things to happen quickly and when the world doesn’t operate at the same pace as me, I feel agitated and anxious.
Does this resonate? Anyone? Anyone? ANSWER ME!!
This trait was incredibly useful when I had 357 emails and 13 meetings a day. Imagine me as a corporate bish: the Road Runner being chased by Wile E. Coyote, kicking emails and taking meetings. Even now, my impatience has been useful as I transition to self-employment. You need to be speedy to juggle as many as 7 or 8 projects and clients at a time.
But when does impatience become a vice?
When you have to SIT, WAIT, and THINK (SWT). That’s the hardest part. When I’m waiting for an important email. When faced with challenging and time-consuming tasks. When I’m at point D and I want to fast-forward to point Z. The slowness can be EXCRUCIATING.
Conveniently, my fast-paced job rarely required me SWT. It was beep, beep, beep, go, go, go, do, do, do, react, react, react. Don’t get me wrong, ostensibly, I was paid the big bucks to gaze into my crystal ball and predict the future, and I did, but I rarely had time to plan for said future. For so many years, I was living in the reactive cycle of corporate life. Going through re-org after re-org after reorg. (I had 10 bosses in less than 8 years!!!) It was like pushing a massive boulder up a hill that just kept rolling right back down.
Some days, I miss it. Not the job. Just the crushing busyness because it meant I didn’t have to SWT. I knew where I was going each day (to 11 meetings, no lunch break) and what the future held (the same merry-go-round of bullshit).
In my professional reinvention, I’m having to re-learn how to SWT.
On the one hand, YAY, it’s incredibly exciting and liberating to be writing the script of my career and to do so thoughtfully and intentionally. On the other hand…THERE ARE BILLS TO PAY, PEOPLE!!!!
This is where PATIENCE comes in.
I’m learning to readjust my pace and my expectations of myself. I’m learning to ask myself: is there a legitimate reason I need to be the Road Runner now that I don’t have corporate overlords breathing down my neck?
NO, actually. It’s just a habit. And habits can be unlearned. Maybe I can be more like Michigan J. Frog — singing show tunes and shuffling off to Buffalo with my top hat and cane. I’m learning to allow myself time and space to stare out the window. That’s when all the good ideas come.
I’m learning that SWT can be productive. I can be in progress/process instead of in action/reaction and still be shuffling off to Buffalo.
Worthy Time Wasters
Here are my weekly recs to combat doom scrolling.
📺 Fun watch of the week was Heartbreak High Season 2 on Netflix. If you’re mourning Sex Education, this Aussie teen drama fills a void. Not quite as well-produced or impactful as Sex Education, HH captured the melodrama of being a teenager, which is an entertaining space to inhabit for a weekend. For additional LOL’s, I binged episodes of the latest season of Loot on Apple TV+. The show seems to be finding more steady footing this season.
I’m also getting into Under the Bridge on Hulu. Based on Rebecca Godfrey’s 1997 book about the true story of 14-year-old Reena Virk’s murder, the story takes us into the hidden world of the young girls accused of Reena’s murder. The series is told through the eyes of Rebecca Godfrey (Riley Keough) and local police officer Cam Bentland (Lily Gladstone). I haven’t read the book, but I’ll have to once I finish the series. I’m too deep in for spoilers at this point.
📚 If you want to get involved in other people’s work drama, may I suggest Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman. It follows the members of Team Movement at a big-box store in an economically depressed upstate New York town. It’s being billed as a “darkly comic workplace caper that shines a light on the odds low-wage workers are up against in today's economy.” I’m only about a quarter of the way through, but I’m turning pages like a fiend.
I also just pre-ordered Kathleen Hanna’s new memoir, Rebel Girl, which I’m rrraring to read!
📰 Shelly Duvall is returning to the screen and landed herself a profile in the New York Times. I’m not sure much has changed since her Dr. Phil appearance 🫣, but I’m on the ride. I also read about Padma Laksmi’s career pivot, Levi’s business pivot, the man who gossiped too much, and parents who regret having kids.
Cheap Thrills: The Minty Fresh Edition
Things under $40 that are bringing me joy.
I’m feeling Spring vibes! Here are a few purchases that have me feeling minty fresh for the season:
Finding the perfect, reusable water receptacle is important…because staying hydrated is key. It’s also challenging. I’ve tried everything from Camelback to Kinto. I’ve rejected them all, for one reason or another — too hard to clean, smells like mildew after a couple of days, not big enough, etc. I know I’m late to the Stanley Cup Craze but it turns out they are worth the hype. My 30oz Flowstate Quencher Tumbler in Mist ($35) is the Goldilocks of water drinking devices.
Nat + Noor’s Mali Hoops in Tiger Green ($22) are giving that minty fresh pop of Spring color. They are also as light as light can be.
I always say, keep your socks seasonal! These adorable Bombas Ankle Socks in Spearmint ($13) are like purrrfect.
I picked up Dlio’s Desert Kush candle ($32). The scent whisks me away to a mystical desert oasis where maybe I’m smoking a joint while star-gazing.
Drop a comment or send a message. I want to hear from you, readers!
What a relief to know that you’re not writing into a void! Have thoughts about what you read, have suggestions for future topics, or just want to say hi?
Become a paid subscriber! 🌷🐣
This newsletter is a reader-supported publication. If you enjoy Laid Off Life, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Catch the Spring Fever! Subscribe now and receive 50% off an annual membership.