Whelp. It’s been a while since you heard from me… almost a month. Sorry about that.
I am pretty sure I had Covid. I self-quarantined and did some traditional and homeopathic stuff. Didn’t end up at the hospital but I was miserable for a while. Bad reactions to some over-the-counter medicine on top of that was miserable*2. But I’m back now. I’m easy to fatigue, but I’m back, and feeling better every day.
One of the things that struck me when I was at my lowest points was how lonely I was. I had left my home with my 12 year old son to work on a project and was away from my wife and other kids, my neighbors, friends… my community. Even though being sick I would have likely been isolated to my bedroom, and not seen my community in person, I would have been in my environment, in the same time zone, and within some sense of normalcy.
As it was, I was thousands of miles away from home (and my wife), didn’t really know anyone, and felt isolated and lonely (the medicine’s side-effects included insomnia and anxiety, which was not a good combination).
I missed normalcy and community in a big way.
This is what I missed when I lost jobs in the past. I lost my community of coworkers. I lost my regular schedule, my defined expectations. I even lost my identity because I could no longer say “I am a _______ at ________.”
My very strong advice is to find your next community, immediately. I found a community of people I could relate to, and who I fit right in with, at a local job club. It was one of the best, and most important, things I did. Networking with other job seekers, who were doing a lot of their own networking, was magical. That community gave me purpose, vision, and a sense of belonging. Not that you want to be there very long, of course, but it was a critical part of my journey.
Job clubs are important for many reasons, but getting plugged into a social community may be the most important reason.
Find your normal, and your people, and even your schedule and purpose. It’s much easier, and better, to do a job search when you have those things than when you are disgruntled and wallowing in upset.