Meghan! We so appreciate you highlighting and amplifying Mark's work and business in this edition of your newsletter. Subscribed so I can continue to receive more!
I keep coming back to this newsletter bc it makes me feel a little better about the fact that I am aimlessly searching LinkedIn looking for the perfect job to shake that sense of meaningless work. Can't help but think that the feeling won't just carry on through the next job as well - and it's really nice to reframe the idea of finding purpose in other areas in our lives, especially now. My mom liked this one too. Thanks!
I'm glad your mom liked itm too :) And I've been there so many times-- searching linkedin, hoping some magical job posting will fill all the crevices in my soul and make me into this fuller person. I think it's more emowering when you step away from that mindset, too. Its opened me up to so many outside possibiilities for fulfillment and self exporation!
Wow, this intro! I, too, have been wrestling with the feeling of menial meaninglessness in my work life. I feel very thankful to have a job that I don't absolutely despise during this time, but there's no denying the shame I feel holding up my "white-collar career" next to essential work that's holding our world together.
I loved this line in the essay you linked:
"Where does ambition go when jobs disappear and the things you’ve been striving for barely even exist anymore? And what if the things for which you’ve been striving no longer feel important because they’re the spoils of a rotten system that needs a complete overhaul?"
I'm currently reading Anna Wiener's "Uncanny Valley" where she also describes the precarious and fabricated modern lives created within the tech sphere and the reckoning that comes with it. I'm only halfway through the memoir, but I definitely recommend it.
Also, when can we read your "Useless" short story?! Seems like just the kind of sad story I love to read.
Thanks for the great reading recs! And it goes without saying the comic is brilliant.
I need to bump "Uncanny Valley" to the top of my to-read list, I've heard such great things!
I know what you mean about feeling shame when you compare your job to that of essential workers, or activists, and the like. I wonder if that is a symptom of the American mindset because we didn't hold such great value in our jobs the pressure might be less intense. I also would love to know if people working in those more "meaningful" jobs feel any breed of what we're talking about, but in a different way.
The stoyr may never see the light of day. I actually forgot about it until this week! But maybe I'll go back and edit in in the light of this envionrment...it does feel like a perfect fit for the moment!
Wow, the “No Worries if Not!” article really rings true. I was just having a discussion about the confidence gap between men and women in the work place. I struggle toggling between trying to gain the same unwarranted and blind confidence men seem to have in themselves or wishing they’d adopt the same humility and vulnerability I (for better and for worse) have in the workplace.
She really hit me with the line- “It reminded me that I am in fact not the only one who is keen or desperate or apologetic”
Working in freelance and having to ask people to pay my invoices (!!!) I find myself having to edit the apology out of every other sentence- erasing “when you get around to it” and "if you don't mind" and “at your convenience” left and right. I also find myself using the filler *just*- as a soft intro to what I really need from the conversation - “just checking in on that invoice”
I love that I have the formidable power to apologize- I'm proud of being able to do so- but this article reminded me to be mindful of using that power as a tool and not a defense mechanism. Thanks for sharing this!
I can't imagine how tough it must be as a freelancer to not default to the apologetic tone, especially when sometimes it can feel like your client is "doing your a favor" by paying you (which is not true!). I'm trying to think of the habitual apologies as nothing more than a mindless habit that I need to break, but becoming aware of how much I do it makes me feel squeamish!
I’ve been feeling like this a lot recently! Having just recently moved now, I’m starting to apply to jobs again. As I write cover letters describing why I could be the best at helping them sell XYZ product or service that isn’t changing the world, it just makes me wonder “what am I even doing?” I’m trying to adopt more of a Swiss mentality - it’s actually a bit taboo here to ask what you do for work when you first meet someone! It comes across as rude, and they would prefer to discuss their hobbies, travels, friends - it’s been a shock to readjust but I think it’s a mentality I would like to adopt!
I loved your note about the Swiss mentality-- I'd like to try to adopt that, too! I wonder what question Americans could sub in for "what do you do for work?" There are a million things i'd rather know about someone from the get go!
I felt that intro HARD. I’ve worked for three different startups now so I’m painfully familiar with the feeling of buying into a company’s mission because it feels good to feel like I’m doing good (even if that’s not the case). And it sucks that so many of us struggle to separate our identities from our jobs, but I completely agree with what you’re saying about divorcing those things and finding fulfillment outside of the things that pay our bills. Will check out that GEN article later!
Let me know what you think about that GEN article... it was so articulate and hit so close to home for me!
I always think about how startups probably have the perfect environment for initial buy-in from employees-- lean companies, less "corporate," with missions that can easily be skewed towards making the world a more efficient place. I think the only real solution is identifying yourself, and finding value in others, wholly independent of what they do for work.
Meghan! We so appreciate you highlighting and amplifying Mark's work and business in this edition of your newsletter. Subscribed so I can continue to receive more!
I keep coming back to this newsletter bc it makes me feel a little better about the fact that I am aimlessly searching LinkedIn looking for the perfect job to shake that sense of meaningless work. Can't help but think that the feeling won't just carry on through the next job as well - and it's really nice to reframe the idea of finding purpose in other areas in our lives, especially now. My mom liked this one too. Thanks!
I'm glad your mom liked itm too :) And I've been there so many times-- searching linkedin, hoping some magical job posting will fill all the crevices in my soul and make me into this fuller person. I think it's more emowering when you step away from that mindset, too. Its opened me up to so many outside possibiilities for fulfillment and self exporation!
I have the Corona virus and I have been looking forward to this writing or week. Again you did a great job like always keep up the good work
hope you are feeling better and more healthy! thanks for reading.
Wow, this intro! I, too, have been wrestling with the feeling of menial meaninglessness in my work life. I feel very thankful to have a job that I don't absolutely despise during this time, but there's no denying the shame I feel holding up my "white-collar career" next to essential work that's holding our world together.
I loved this line in the essay you linked:
"Where does ambition go when jobs disappear and the things you’ve been striving for barely even exist anymore? And what if the things for which you’ve been striving no longer feel important because they’re the spoils of a rotten system that needs a complete overhaul?"
I'm currently reading Anna Wiener's "Uncanny Valley" where she also describes the precarious and fabricated modern lives created within the tech sphere and the reckoning that comes with it. I'm only halfway through the memoir, but I definitely recommend it.
Also, when can we read your "Useless" short story?! Seems like just the kind of sad story I love to read.
Thanks for the great reading recs! And it goes without saying the comic is brilliant.
I need to bump "Uncanny Valley" to the top of my to-read list, I've heard such great things!
I know what you mean about feeling shame when you compare your job to that of essential workers, or activists, and the like. I wonder if that is a symptom of the American mindset because we didn't hold such great value in our jobs the pressure might be less intense. I also would love to know if people working in those more "meaningful" jobs feel any breed of what we're talking about, but in a different way.
The stoyr may never see the light of day. I actually forgot about it until this week! But maybe I'll go back and edit in in the light of this envionrment...it does feel like a perfect fit for the moment!
Wow, the “No Worries if Not!” article really rings true. I was just having a discussion about the confidence gap between men and women in the work place. I struggle toggling between trying to gain the same unwarranted and blind confidence men seem to have in themselves or wishing they’d adopt the same humility and vulnerability I (for better and for worse) have in the workplace.
She really hit me with the line- “It reminded me that I am in fact not the only one who is keen or desperate or apologetic”
Working in freelance and having to ask people to pay my invoices (!!!) I find myself having to edit the apology out of every other sentence- erasing “when you get around to it” and "if you don't mind" and “at your convenience” left and right. I also find myself using the filler *just*- as a soft intro to what I really need from the conversation - “just checking in on that invoice”
I love that I have the formidable power to apologize- I'm proud of being able to do so- but this article reminded me to be mindful of using that power as a tool and not a defense mechanism. Thanks for sharing this!
I can't imagine how tough it must be as a freelancer to not default to the apologetic tone, especially when sometimes it can feel like your client is "doing your a favor" by paying you (which is not true!). I'm trying to think of the habitual apologies as nothing more than a mindless habit that I need to break, but becoming aware of how much I do it makes me feel squeamish!
I’ve been feeling like this a lot recently! Having just recently moved now, I’m starting to apply to jobs again. As I write cover letters describing why I could be the best at helping them sell XYZ product or service that isn’t changing the world, it just makes me wonder “what am I even doing?” I’m trying to adopt more of a Swiss mentality - it’s actually a bit taboo here to ask what you do for work when you first meet someone! It comes across as rude, and they would prefer to discuss their hobbies, travels, friends - it’s been a shock to readjust but I think it’s a mentality I would like to adopt!
I loved your note about the Swiss mentality-- I'd like to try to adopt that, too! I wonder what question Americans could sub in for "what do you do for work?" There are a million things i'd rather know about someone from the get go!
I felt that intro HARD. I’ve worked for three different startups now so I’m painfully familiar with the feeling of buying into a company’s mission because it feels good to feel like I’m doing good (even if that’s not the case). And it sucks that so many of us struggle to separate our identities from our jobs, but I completely agree with what you’re saying about divorcing those things and finding fulfillment outside of the things that pay our bills. Will check out that GEN article later!
Let me know what you think about that GEN article... it was so articulate and hit so close to home for me!
I always think about how startups probably have the perfect environment for initial buy-in from employees-- lean companies, less "corporate," with missions that can easily be skewed towards making the world a more efficient place. I think the only real solution is identifying yourself, and finding value in others, wholly independent of what they do for work.