I once spent like 8 months doing nothing but playing WOW and fill out job apps that I never heard back on. It was the happiest and most fulfilled I’ve ever felt. I had a ton of friends and I rose through the ranks of my guild and was eventually elected as leader. It actually helped me get over a ton of my social anxiety and build up my confidence to come out of my shell.
I don’t tell people that in real life because they’ll think I’m a loser but I honestly don’t think I’d be where I’m at today if I’d have spent that time working dead end fast food jobs or something instead but I can also definitely see how people fall into video game addiction problems.
I managed to get 1950 hours playing eve online in a single year during covid, it was the best year of my life but fuck me did my grades suffer for it
I do wonder how it could be. People always say that you need to work to be happy, but it’s not like they know it from experience. The few months you spend on the brink of starvation while searching for a job isn’t comparable to an indefinite vacation.
Just like permanent vs. temporary housing for the homeless. One helps them, the other pushes the problem along.
Needing to work to be happy, or to have a meaningful life, or to feel productive or fulfilled, or whatever - that’s been an alien concept to me my entire life.
People talk about their careers with pride, they look forward to going to work and … I don’t understand it. Is this supposed to be an achievement? There is no amount of money or perks that could fool me into believing I’m not selling my life away. It’s really fucking hard to pretend everything is fine, when sometimes I just want to disappear in the woods.
Doesn’t anyone else feel like this?
I worked for 25 years before becoming disabled 5 years ago. In my experience, the grass is always greener on the other side.
It can be a pretty miserable cycle.
1: Have a job that barely keeps you financially above water, while consuming all of your time, energy, motivation, creativity, and capacity for joy.
2: Lose it.
3: Spend every moment not enjoying your newfound free time due to…in no particular order…struggling with poverty; struggling with guilt, depression, and general self-loathing; jumping through hoops fighting an unemployment system designed to make you give up (especially if you live somewhere extra shitty) ; spending countless hours revising resumes and mass applying to jobs to no avail; being too poor to do anything and barely seeing your friends; trying to keep food in your kitchen…and so on.
I’m so tired.
i try to always live as below my means as i possibly can. of course this depends on the salary i’m currently making, but i can afford some time to myself between jobs and its an awesome rest.
Sabbatical.
