The Tao of Unemployment

If the Tao is the Way (and it is, I looked it up at Wikipedia) then it must lead somewhere, into something. That something is this: the constantly expanding awareness of what reality is capable of, and how to deal with it. Following the Tao makes us ever more available to the lessons of experience, which makes us better at life.

So, what's the Way of Unemployment? 

I haven't had a full-time job for eighteen months. It's been a long painful grind. Interviews and opportunities come and go like mirages and in between are these long stretches of hot sand. Sometimes just staying positive is rigorous work. But you have to become at home in the shadow of unemployment. No matter what your situation, you have to get creative, because job or no job your life is happening.

Much of the popular advice about unemployment relates to finding a job or reinventing your career. That's logical and smart. More personal is the advice to enjoy the time, go to a cafe, pick up those water colors, or spend time with the family. Also, very good advice. Less is said about all the information you can gather about yourself.

The stress of unemployment brings out the truth. It's filled with indicators about how you live your life. An honest look will reveal all the repair work you need to do on your personal foundations, and all the potential for growth, healing, and positive inner change. Unemployment is an opportunity to explore your fear, to understand your expectations of life, to get a feel for your relationship to success, to your dreams, to the people you love. It's a chance to evaluate and strengthen the your connection to yourself—the connection that exists completely independent of your career goals. 

If you don't have a connection to yourself independent of your career goals, that may be the greatest thing the Tao of Unemployment can show you. 

Of course losing your job is a chance to take a new direction. Of course it's a chance to evaluate the path you've taken to this point. But it's not just about reinventing yourself. It's about "who the heck are you to begin with?" You can't reinvent something until you understand what it is already. If you look, you'll find out who you are right now. If you're honest you'll see the opportunity. You'll see where you are strong, where you are weak, where you are fearful, where you are brave. 

There's an old saying: "When the disciple is ready, the master will appear." That's the Tao of Unemployment: unemployment is the master and it appears because you are ready to learn what it has to teach. 

Ever forward.

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