“The high hopes of my 20s have been dashed. But instead of letting that turn me into the hopeless middle-aged crank I hated encountering back then, I can adjust my barometer and find happiness where it’s available to me.”
This couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I recently decided to leave yet another creative gig where the company I felt valued in drastically changed within 5 years. I accepted a much better paying hybrid position with an established company that has already shown more appreciation than I’ve had in years, and I haven’t even started yet. 😂
I’ve really been struggling with the death of my “successful creative” dreams and how my career has felt more like jumping from one disappearing rock in a river of hot lava to another. I’ve survived the death of so many print industries: catalog, magazine, newspaper, etc., and been forced to find job satisfaction in social media, a toxic stream of mostly meaningless propaganda I actively avoid in my private life.
Thank you for the perspective I needed exactly when I needed it! Your book and Substack have really helped me navigate this period of late-career woes in a way nothing else does! I’m so grateful for your brave honesty and willingness to be vulnerable online. 🩷
I would really like to go back in time and yell at the cultural forces that made me and many others think that you had to LOOOOVE your job.
“The high hopes of my 20s have been dashed. But instead of letting that turn me into the hopeless middle-aged crank I hated encountering back then, I can adjust my barometer and find happiness where it’s available to me.”
This couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I recently decided to leave yet another creative gig where the company I felt valued in drastically changed within 5 years. I accepted a much better paying hybrid position with an established company that has already shown more appreciation than I’ve had in years, and I haven’t even started yet. 😂
I’ve really been struggling with the death of my “successful creative” dreams and how my career has felt more like jumping from one disappearing rock in a river of hot lava to another. I’ve survived the death of so many print industries: catalog, magazine, newspaper, etc., and been forced to find job satisfaction in social media, a toxic stream of mostly meaningless propaganda I actively avoid in my private life.
Thank you for the perspective I needed exactly when I needed it! Your book and Substack have really helped me navigate this period of late-career woes in a way nothing else does! I’m so grateful for your brave honesty and willingness to be vulnerable online. 🩷