A Season of Calm

Three weeks ago, I lost my job when the company I worked for closed its US marketing department.

Without speaking too much out of school, the way things were handled was not respectful of the team’s talent, dedication and strategic contribution. The layoff was a surprise blow after weeks of what we all thought was a harmless investigation into the inner workings of marketing after our executive leader left the company suddenly. And, oddly, I think I manifested this outcome.

For several months, I had been facing an intensifying mental health challenge. There are several facets to it, but the physical expression became bouts of anxiety worse than I’d felt in all my life. Anxiety lead to insomnia, and then a lot of tired days at work. Add to that a roller coaster or changing priorities, and the combination was quite literally starting to drive me crazy. And, yeah. I’m admitting that on my portfolio website. I was burning out.

Plus, my little one was about to start kindergarten, which brought up a whole slew of other unhelpful worries. And, all I wanted was time to heal and time to spend with her. And, strangely, that is what I’ve been given.

Instead of letting the freak-out take me over, I have consciously decided that this will be a season of calm. I have deliberately held off on submitting applications to the many job postings in my feed, because I want to come from a place of ease and grace with this career transition.

Stuff that’s helping:

• Long walks around McKay Lake

• Quality family time

• Contemplating my strengths

• Creative writing

• Calls with mentors

• Therapy

Of course any job loss