the pros and (mostly) cons of being (mostly) unemployed

now that i have stepped out of the college world, diploma in hand, i have been welcomed into the world of unemployment. now while i do have some freelance work that keeps me from going insane, i've realized that working from home is not all it's cracked up to be.

when i decided to be a journalism major, part of what appealed to me is this great idea that you could work from home. pj's, snacking, tv breaks ... what's not to love? when i was little, those were the three reasons that i thought being homeschooled sounded superfun.

i am starting to rethink the fun-ness of it all.

for starters, it is ridiculously hard to motivate yourself when you have no one to report to. sleep till ten, ten thirty, eleven? nothing is going to get in the way of you doing that but your snooze button and your guilt. and yeah, sleeping in is great. but then your day is halfway over and you have to muster up the motivation to do any work at all.

aside from that, i am finding it difficult to be motivated to do anything. shower? why bother? getting dressed? sweatpants are fine. making and eating actual meals? what's the point when i have a bag of pita chips? the point is, after a week or so of this 'my office is my bed' business ... you start to go stir crazy. all your friends are going to work, going out to lunch, and being with actual people. you start to feel like a shut-in.

not to mention, your bed/'desk' starts to indent where your bum has been for several hours straight. you keep yourself from freezing in the midwestern tundra, not by actually moving, no — you use your overheating computer for warmth.

all that's meant for relaxation and unwinding is now my undoing. wearing pj's all the time makes me feel sloppy, not comfortable; trolling through web sites is a chore, not a pass time; not having a place to call 'work' makes me an ankle monitor away from being under house arrest — not to mention that i have no place to go to escape work at the end of the day, either.

so kids, moral of the story: working from home is not as glamorous as it's cracked up to be.

is this abnormal?

i have had a lot of roommates throughout my college years. how many, you ask?

fourteen.

fourTEEN. at least i got along with them, i suppose.
how many have other people had? i know my friend, kelsey, has also had about the same number of roommates....but is that common?

anyway. the first month of a new decade is almost done! have you done anything cool yet? if not, you have a new goal for the weekend. have an adventure!

five years from now ... who will you be?

well, the last few weeks have been pretty nuts- i apologize for the lack of postings! trying to find a job while freelancing/working for free has been a bit crazy.

as i was going through some old papers the other day, i found an unopened envelope. i had completely forgotten that, in 2001, i had written a letter to myself to be opened in five years. (yes, i know i suck at math, but even i know that 2001 to 2010 is NOT five years). i guess it had just been stuck in a shuffle of papers and forgotten about ... until now.

the note was written on my 'fancy,' personalized, cat-and-pawprint stationary. (believe me, i realize that i was not the coolest junior higher ever. BELIEVE ME. i've seen the old pictures -- not my prime.)

anyway, after reading through my letter to my future self (favorite line: "I still haven't gotten a phone (do I get one in 5 years?)"---and i meant a cordless phone), i thought that i should write another letter to my future self.

this time last year, i knew 2009 was going to be big: i spent 4 months in new york city, one of my best friends got married (the first of my close friends to have done so), i went to guatemala for a while, i started working at a magazine, and i graduated from college. all from january to december.

but i'm realizing that a year from NOW, i have no clue where i'll be. i'm at a pretty big period of transition currently, and hopefully in the next year, i'll have steady employment, an apartment of my own, &c. but who knows when or how i'll get there?

so, what better time to write a letter to the me five years from now? i'm sure when i rip open that envelope in five years (or more if it gets lost in the mess of my desk) ... well, things will be different. how, i'm not so sure. but i'm sure it will be fun to read it.

you should try it, too!


x.
krystine

forgive me, readers, for i have been lazy