I miss blogs. Not necessarily writing one, but reading them. Especially sites like Gawker and Reblogging Donk. Sure, everyone and their mother has a Substacks, but I'm not in a position to splash out money for all the ones I'd like to read, since I was recently laid off.
So since I'm spending eight bucks a month (which I also technically can't afford!), I thought I'd try and start updating this one. Here's what I've been up to:
I quit writing! Sure, one ex described my career as "typing," (dick) but I actually DID have people paying me to "type" a bunch of words and turn them in. For many years! There were books! Columns! Features! Marketing copy—sooooo much marketing copy! But as the market devalued my work (and everyone else's too, not boo-hooing just for me), I decided to move into a more stable career in social work. And yes, I realize how deranged it sounds to move into social work as a steady source of income, since it's the only job where I'd possibly be making LESS money, though I would, presumably, have health insurance as part of the deal.
I diligently applied to schools and got into Hunter. A great school for that field and I was so excited to begin learning again. Even being older than many of my teachers, I loved the hell out of it. Unfortunately, a surgical accident combined with an anesthesiologist's arrogance, cost me my voice. If you're interested, you can read all about it here.
When you're a social worker, you need people to be able to hear you, especially as I'd envisioned going into elder care. As I quickly learned from my dad and stepmom, people who are hearing impaired REALLY couldn't hear me. Doing field work was part of the deal and I couldn't do that, so I took a leave of absence. A then-friend ran a recruiting firm and she'd found me a bunch of work in the past, so when she asked if I wanted to give recruiting a try, I figured what the hell. The pandemic hit and I was happy to have a job and even happier that it didn't involve being in a tiny government office crammed with sick people. Guess I'm not as altruistic as I'd originally envisioned.
Turns out, I was good at recruiting and I liked it. I met so many interesting people, I placed tons of people in great jobs, and made the company an assload of money. (I brought in over $400k one year!) But then the market turned and they had meanwhile hired a shiny young MBA, so the old battleaxe was laid off. I'm sure it'll be fine in time, but for now, that hurts! Especially my wallet.
And so now, after being a writer for many years, a recruiter for nearly five—in addition to all the other nutso jobs I've had—I need to figure out what's next. I love writing, but having been out of it for quite a while, the imposter syndrome is looming large. (I also hate constantly pitching and then chasing checks.) What's an elder lady to do?! Open to any and all ideas. Please spill if you have any good ones.