As a proud new member of the Suddenly Unemployed Journalist Diaspora (yes, copy editors are journalists, too -- check out the ol' still-being-updated resume...), I'm in good company during this wrenching, chaotic, calamitous, hopefully-not-catastrophic "paradigm shift" from "old journalism" to new business models ... if indeed a business can still be made of journalism -- which I hasten to say is happening, but in such a shamefully unplanned and mismanaged way that could have been SO avoided that I kick myself/ourselves for not having taking charge more quickly years ago at the union level and management level, but I had put my trust in the powers-that-be because, well, they were the powers-that-be, little thinking some nerdy teens and dweebs in college dorms would be the ones to instantly rule the world. Oh, well, watery bits and bytes under the bridge board. More on all that in a later post. But first an update.
Time has flown by so fast in my "new normal" state of life that I didn't even get a chance to document week 2 of my new circumstance, and here it is already the end of week 3! Mom was always afraid to retire because she feared becoming a couch potato, and of course when she finally DID retire, she got busier than ever -- I only WISH I had the time to just dawdle and unwind. But it's been nonstop family and job-"search" stuff. I've put "search" in quotes because I'm including brushing up the resume (let alone getting TO the resume), which has taken much longer than expected: listing jobs I had forgotten about, correcting dates, remembering duties ... even though the basic resume has been with me for years and has updated repeatedly during that time. Ah, what a difference it makes to finally have the temporary luxury of time to tweak without rushing or doing something on the fly. (Of course that includes "picking away" at home chores...) (I'm also getting accustomed to violating AP style rules while blogging, Facebooking, etc., and not feeling guilty about it ... well, not feeling TOO guilty. ... OK, I feel guilty...) I've also put "search" in quotes because I haven't really searched yet: I've been working on rebuilding my various businesses (Gibbin Communications / Gibbin Publications / Gibbin Services / Conflict Resolution Service / Bi Consultation Service) and wondering if I have the financial ability to do so before the tap runs dry vs. having to get a "real" job (i.e., regularly-scheduled paydays, benefits, etc.) Thank goodness (for now) the health care bill has been passed; November elections certainly will be a political test for it, but from personal and altruistic points of view, I'm feeling a sense of relief. How economically viable the new scheme is, well... we'll see.
Anyways, about my "new normal": Routine is finally settling in, in fits and starts, and I'm slowly seeing patters: waking up early (6 or 7), having cereal and maybe coffee, going through emails, touching up the resume on various Web sites, checking Facebook briefly, and now working through sending out thank-you's as a matter of closure and/or heads-up to various business associates. That's taken an inordinate amount of time. But after all this, I've decided that (much though I'm enjoying having "free time" -- which is neither free nor enough time), I'm no longer going to refer to myself as "retired" (I can't collect full pensions yet) nor even semi-retired, though that IS apt. The fact is that I'm rebuilding businesses and down the road looking for a "real" job if need be. And I'm finding that whereas my former recent life was more structured (I had a regular work schedule outside of the home) and semi-dependable (salary, medical insurance), this new life/business style will probably be much more fluid timewise, and much more integrated than just the work/home dichotomy. I previously liked that a long time ago, but that was when I was young, single, could live in a garret or basement (and indeed I did), but now... well, as long as all this pays the bills... I keep telling myself, ah, a new ADVENTURE... but only if the social security net below this highwire act holds up... and right now it's looking rather frayed. We shall all see. I'll try to explore that and the future of journalism in the next entry.
