A friend in Michigan started a blog titled "I Used To Get Paid For This" after being laid off from her journalism job. She would write about all of the things she wrote about professionally in her blog each week. I'm not sure if there was a snarky factor in naming the blog but my guess? There was.
When the bottom dropped out of my professional life in March, I spent a great deal of time feeling intense sadness, loss and shock. I was one of those lucky people; I got to do what I loved for a living. When people would ask if I liked my job, I got to say yes. I said yes pretty much every day for 18 years. And truth be told, many people don't ever get to say that ... not even for one day.
So with a grateful heart for all of those years, I started trying to figure out what the next chapter of my life would look like. My professional life has been in media for more than 20 years; I worked in radio for several years before I went to work at a newspaper. But both radio and newspaper jobs are scarce. Journalism is alive and well but print media is seriously challenged and live radio has been shrinking for more than a decade.
But before all of that, I had (yet another) career, in the restaurant business. I worked in a bunch of restaurants as a bartender, server, manager, and for a large family restaurant chain as a corporate trainer. And one of the most rewarding things I did in journalism was to write about food.
It's been said that if you find something to do for a living that you would do for free, it will never feel like work. The things I would do for free? Feed people. Write about food. Teach people to cook.
As of last week, I am doing all three and getting paid to do two out of the three.
The very first job that I applied for back in May is the job I started last week. I didn't get a call for an interview for that job for more than a month, and frankly, that's the norm. In fact, if you hear anything at all, it is surprising. I will avoid going on and on about what it's like to be unemployed and to be out there trying to find employment principally because you've heard it all before. Suffice it to say, it can be very disheartening. The whole process sucks your ego dry. And yet, in order to get anywhere in that process, you have to stay strong, believe in yourself and be positive. It's beyond tough.
I now work at a small nursing-rehabilitation facility near Boston. I am a cook and I prepare meals for about 90 residents. I really like my boss, who is a cool guy who plays in a band and drives a Mini Cooper. And I love feeding people and this week I made all kinds of good food: meatloaf, muffins, pork roast, salads and garlic mashed potatoes.
Teaching cooking has brought great joy to my life. I have classes scheduled at two locations (Your Kitchen Store and the Community Education Program, both in Keene) through the end of the year. During the classes, I get to spend a few hours in a great kitchen surrounded by people who love to cook or want to learn how. That, to me, is bliss.
I'm doing a bit of catering too; at the end of the month, I'm making a small wedding cake and 60 cupcakes for a wedding in Jaffrey.
And I continue to write about food, here on my blog, on my Facebook page and hopefully, other places somewhere down the road.
So, this is my life now. I no longer feel such great sadness or loss. I miss the readers who used to call or write to me and comment about the stories I'd written. I miss some of the folks I worked with and was close to over the years.
Once again, I feel useful, engaged and as if I am contributing ... to my community and my family. It's not how I pictured my life unfolding. But in all honesty, that's a good thing.
