Day 68 of DE-Centering Work
y’all what a time to be ALIVEEEE. I know I did a blog post on my digital gratitude journal a few weeks ago but I wanted to provide a little update. Intentionally making the time at the end of each day to acknowledge and write out what made me smile, what made the day a good day etc has completely altered my brain chemistry around work. It’s actually unreal yall.
Consider this me coming to you live on day 68 of decentering work and I could not recommend this more. Now maybe this is just a right of passage but I think it’s deeper than that. I wouldn’t say I’m mid 30s just yet but I do know this is the time when you’re supposed to be grinding. And I wouldn’t say the grind should have to be focused solely on the 9-5, I’m talking the 5-9!
Let’s be so freaking for real…the 9-5 just funds what I want to do in the 5-9. Yes I love the people that I work with and I am very grateful for my job and the opportunities that come with it, but I’m not saving lives. This is not my life’s work and that’s okay. I have said this COUNTLESS times out loud even! I was not put on this earth to work for Petsmart corporate LMAO (but seriously ask my family). Even though I consciously knew that, I feel like the past few years subconsciously I wasn’t navigating my day to day like that which really took a toll on my mental health.
68 days ago I decided to realign and I feel more ME than ever before and I’m so stinking HAPPY. And I share this not to brag but to truly share and speak to the fact that it can be done. So many of my friends and coworkers seem to be at this same crossroads. You are NOT alone! When you get to the other side and realize you yourself are in complete control of your own happiness the random corporate BS will no longer make it seem like you are in an absolute black hole 5 days a week.
And before you freak out let me just say, decentering work doesn’t mean you stop caring. TRUST, I still care about doing a good job. I likely still have TOO much pride in my work. I still want to grow. I still want to make more money and be successful and do cool shit #duh. I just don’t need any of those things to be the most interesting thing about me anymore.
I want to care more about:
What I’m making
Where I’m going
What I’m wearing
Who I’m having happy hour with
What I’m writing about
What I noticed that day
The house I’m eventually going to make weird and wonderful with my crab
The hobbies I haven’t even discovered yet
THAT is the shit I want taking up space in my brain.
So yes, the 9–5 matters. But lately I’m way more interested in who I am from 5–9.
Day 68 and counting yall :)
The goal isn’t to build your life around your work. It’s to build a life you can’t wait to get back to.
