Not Working

While I have a full opinion on why we should quit our jobs to pursue whatever our passions might be, I’ve had a hard time trying to write a post that clearly explains why I left my plush life as a Senior Design Engineer at my company to do literally nothing.

The desire to do nothing is obviously tantalizing to most but definitely not for all. As stated in Why We Work, we all have the reasons for why we work. It is a grind to get to the American Dream we were promised and while it is definitely achievable by putting your head down for 30 years and not let anything outside of your family and work bother you. Like a horse with blinders on, just get to the finish line. The problem is I took those blinders off and what I saw is that-  I’ll probably still be working after I retire.

The decision to ride the fun-employment train broke down into two parts. One, if I am going to work til I’m dead, I should “retire” now while my body is still ready for anything. Secondly, life is too short to be stuck in the same loop such that, if you’ve successfully ran into the same issue over and over at your work… it will almost certainly happen again.

Part 1 is pretty straight forward and I will dedicate specific blog posts & galleries as to the adventures I have been on since leaving my work. Just to be clear, I don’t travel… I go on ADVENTURES. The only rest & relaxation I get is a beer that I consider re-fueling.

In comes part 2, the loop. Wake up, shower, make a smoothie, go to the office. Have coffee. Conference calls. Toilet time. Some actual work. Lunch. More actual work. Spend time helping others do their work. Realize the work was done incorrectly. Push it off and start over tomorrow. Go to a crowded gym. Re-heat a dinner. Watch sports. Smoke a J. Call it a day. Repeat.

In the greater scene the loop is, holidays, birthdays, sports, dating, raises… all the same.

Doesn’t seem to bad huh? It’s true that actually was not so bad.

Sometimes my job entailed working long nights instead of desk duty and in those times I’d get to be out in society during the 9-5. Not surprising there were a ton of super cool interesting people that I’d meet just about everywhere and anywhere. I now envied these day walkers and craved being among them.

I could see the ceiling at work and the room for growth was limited. There is always going to be a market for the type of service and experiences I can provide work-wise plus people my age are SO LUCKY we live in a world where not only can I work remotely but also work at nearly any time.

So one faithful evening, my cousin the project manager had me come play on their company soccer team several of those folks heard my complaints and gassed me up saying, F your job, you can do anything! Listing examples of how they, all in their late 20’s too have moved and bunch/worked at various companies. (2 Friends in particular took their talents all the way to Amsterdam!)

While getting up and moving across the country is super hard, they all relished the struggle. I convinced myself I could do it too. That next morning my rock climbing partner was listening to me vent, and challenged me to do it. “If you send this on the first try, you have to quit your job”, he said. And here we are.

“If you dare to struggle, you dare to win. If you dare not struggle, then damn it, you don’t deserve to win.” – Fred Hampton

Writing about it now 4 months later, it has been the greatest decision of my life. I am thankful my struggle is not so bad since I can live at home and dip into a moderate amount of savings. But the results have me working various fun odd-jobs, I’m in the best shape of my life, I’ve met some stupendous people and have just, never been happier.

The life behind this blog is dedicated to all the people to that supported this struggle knowing its the best thing I could do. Thanks for the love.