Hedgehog

Dimmed light at the end of the tunnel. Pt. I

I've been in business a long time. Too long, but until I'm no longer under-published and under-appreciated as an author, I have to hold down a regular job. For more years than I care to reveal, I worked in marketing and media, mostly the 1-800 stuff on TV. It was fun, fast and lively, but too many execution responsibilities for my (mostly) right-brained temprament.

As so many people in this "economic recovery," I found myself unemployed, unhappily employed and marginally employed (or any combination of said states of employment) for several years. Life got really desparate for a long time. I joke that I had to sell all my Louis Vuitton luggage just to survive. This is true. But I also sold nearly everything else I owned to pay the rent.

It was a dark, dark time. And very scary. I'd send out 25 resumes a week, have a few interviews and be rejected for jobs that were exactly what I'd done for more than 10 years. I made some money free-lancing, but not enough. I also worked on the phones taking orders for Williams-Sonoma, (a superb company to work for, by the way). Not a bad little job and I probably could have grown with them, but it wasn't what I loved.

Finally, finally, I got a job as a copywriter in an internet ad agency. It was a revelation how wonderful working life could be. And in fact, I've marveled that I survived all those years in jobs I didn't love and didn't really have an aptitude for. And I was successful doing them, but it wasn't what I loved.

For the first time in my life, it was a pleasure to get up in the morning. I actually went to bed with a smile on my face. NEVER HAPPENED before that. The work was fun, fast, busy; the creative colleagues were smart and funny and so great to work with. I was the first writer the agency had ever hired, and life was the best it had ever been.

posted by Isabelle Mauvaise @ 1:33 PM