Regenesis

Greetings! Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but the recession took a toll on my employment status, and I've spent the last few months dealing with it. I've had to downsize a bit: Moved out of Manhattan to a less expensive suburb, stocking up on Dinty Moore instead of DelFrisco's, et al. But I've got a job, and it's a job within the legal profession, so I am a lot better off than a lot of attorneys who got purged in the bloodletting of the last few years.

I could say the experiences of the last few months were educational, but to be honest, most of the lessons were more refresher courses, reminding me of things that I learned at Canoe U, or in the Third Marines, or in my transfer to civilian life. Not having a job to get up for was very stressful for me, even at a time when I had a decent cushion in savings and was collecting a nice severance package. It took a month or so and several visits with a therapist to stop feeling sorry for myself and start eating again. My life devolved to working out, job hunting, and the local bars of Hell's Kitchen. In hindsight, I could have taken an art class at NYU, or had a doctor check out my shoulder and gotten rotator cuff surgery when I had no other obligations, as opposed to now. Oh well, water under the bridge.

I've dealt with this kind of thing in the past, and I guess that, after the previous experience, this pass wasn't as bad, and I was able to regain my wits faster. In terms of employment, I'd started looking at a bunch of different options quickly, not all of them in the legal world: I'd worked as a security guard in law school, and, before finding my current position, I contacted my old boss to see if I could get some hours. I also went to a hiring conference that had nothing to do with legal positions; I spoke with pharaceutical companies, fiberglass manufacturers, and construction contractors. A lot of people laugh at the whole "lawyer-working-at-Home-Depot" thing, and while I will admit it wasn't my first choice, it's what I was prepared to do to pay the bills. If I could crawl through mud and weed sidewalks, there's not a lot I think is beneath me. My dad worked two jobs to pay for my education; I can take a lower paying job to finance my own.

If there's anything I took from the experience, I guess I reminded myself that there is truth in the damned cliche: Tough times don't last; tough people do. We are in tough times, god knows; unemployment isn't going to suddenly nose dive between now and next November. But I was able to make my situation work by swallowing some ego and making some changes. I'm not saying it will work for everyone, but I'm going to make it work for me.