"I quit!" It's that easy. Okay, not really. But when I tell people, over the past 2+ months that I'm leaving my full-time job with no paid gig lined up after, it feels spontaneous and dramatic, a little foolish even. I tend to read people's reactions, perhaps incorrectly, and get increasingly self-deprecating about the whole thing ("I'm bankrupting my family, LOL!"). I should really give fewer f*cks, though, because the reality is this decision was about a year in the making. Actually, if I'm being honest, I started planning my exit strategy within the first six months on the job. I knew very early on that this position was not my dream job, if dream job is even a thing anymore. So you can imagine the effect Sarah Knight's Medium article 'I quit my job today (and so can you!)' had on me. And I quote:
"I didn’t have a solid argument. I wasn’t leaving for a better gig or more money. I wasn’t building a career in food service that necessitated a move up the ladder to Mike’s Clam Shack. I wasn’t moving to New Hampshire, nor had I been diagnosed with a severe shellfish allergy. I just wasn’t happy, and I didn’t want to show up. Another. Single. God. Damn. Day."Even so, although I could have written those words myself (replace "food service" with "arts administration") I wrestled with the notion for another two years. I felt I needed to stick it out at least a year, and when I passed the one-year mark, I decided to stick it out until at least my two-year anniversary, when the money my employer matched in my retirement savings each month would be fully vested (see, I think about money and stuff). I filed that article under "quit your day job...eventually". But I kept coming back to it and now, two years later, what I'm saying, here, and to people who ask, is essentially this:
"Yes, I have some savings, and a husband who does well, and I have a plan for the next phase of my working life. I’m not trying to peddle the notion that everyone should walk out on his or her job without giving it careful consideration from many angles...I finally came to the realization that my happiness is contingent upon a number of things, including spending more time with my husband, avoiding a soul-crushing commute, not working traditional 9–5 hours, and being my own boss."There are, of course, some extra factors for me around family and studio time, but this is it in a nutshell. Or a longish blog post, as the case may be.
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