So I Quit...

And really, it seemed too easy at the time... (which was 6 months ago now)

But people asked.. "Why on EARTH would you quit a job you don't hate, that pays you well, in a city you love.. with no prospect of a job at the age of 40?"


You see I had what people work to GET. A pretty cushy gig. After 16 years with the same company, I had landed the equivalent of the Lotto 6/49- Desk Job, hours of 830am-5pm, 5 weeks holiday, a team I got along with, and a company that gave us paid conferences and a list of perks a mile long.. oh and did I mention I earned six figures?

Yet I quit.

Why?
It had to be more than that I HATED to ride the escalator at Burrard Skytrain station feeling like part of a herd of cattle being shunted through the branding shoot.

So I jokingly told everyone I was "retired"... this tended to elicit a whole bunch of "WTF?" and "wow you are lucky!"

I wasn't going to argue the luck. I believe most people make their own, yet I fully acknowledge some people have sucky lives through no fault of their own.

So I tried this line of logic to my mostly reproducing peers... "If I told you I was pregnant and going on Mat leave and might not come back, you would all be deliriously happy for me that I was creating life and I had something bigger than myself to focus on, and wouldn't be in the least concerned with how I would make my living"..

RIGHT?

They all agreed.. yes they would be happy for me, no they wouldn't question that I would figure out the monetary angle.

So I went on, "I will be paying myself - saved by myself, and paid by myself to myself- the equivalent of Mat leave.. about 24K gross, I will be no burden on the tax payers, or my other half, and I will create art, and volunteer to create a better community.. how is that any LESS worthwhile?"

That kinda stumped em.. but still I got some funny looks.. kinda like the look you give people who say fundamentally stupid things, but you don't want to be the one to point it out!

Now, 6 months down the track, I'm starting to get a fair amount of "so... still not working huh?"

I think people thought I would come to my senses.. (they should have known better than that!) and would be somehow gainfully employed by Christmas.

For my parents generation, it was a bonafide scandal. Pretty much everyone over 60 was aghast.. for them, you get a job, hopefully it paid enough to support your family and you didn't hate it. That was about the best you could wish for, right?

Even if it DIDN'T fulfill these 2 rather key requirements..you didn't just up and QUIT.

But in my first 6 months off I have discovered a few things...

I make awesome curry.
I love reading the paper, and knowing what is happening in world outside my street.
I love working with kids.
I love volunteering with organizations making a fundamental difference in peoples lives.
I still need to LEARN.
I am genuinely HAPPY to wake up in the morning and see what the day holds for me.

(and I hadn't said THAT for over 2 years in my cushy job... regardless of all the "perks" I REALLY hated that escalator!)

I DID have a slight breakdown the other day, when my former employer sent me my final payslip for 2010. I looked at it, and marveled how I could possibly be LIVING without their contributions to my bank account each month. I thought seriously about whether I had made a mistake in leaving..

then I thought... well excuse me for wanting more than "a job I didn't hate."

I will update my journey through under-employment over the next 6 months (I have "funding" until August at least!). High on the horizon of fun times will be striving to complete my Photography Certificate at Langara, volunteering at Take a Hike and Pony Pals and going to Tofino to celebrate my 10th anniversary.

And Lovin' it!