---------------------------- -----------------------------------------------

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

In defense of selfunemployment

Most of you know that I have embraced the world of selfunemployment. My rationale is simple: I don't like working. I do like editing and tutoring. So I will do those things as I wait for all of the graduate schools in the world to reject me (No, I haven't heard back from anywhere yet - I'm just predicting the future. And it's not like if I got into/was rejected from Columbia, the entire universe wouldn't know in about .005 seconds. I swear I'll tell you when I know. It'll happen).

After all of the graduate schools in the world reject me, I will then fulfill my dreams of moving to Estonia, marrying royalty, and living out my days discovering the enchantment of Eastern Europe. Until that time, I figure that between the wonders of Maryland unemployment law and the number of non-native English speakers in this great region of ours, I can get by.

But most of the tutoring and editing I do happen at night, and yet, I'm never bored during the day. Sure, some of my time is spent doing "business" stuff, but really there's a lot of time left over. It boggles my mind that I'm able to fill it. Clearly, I'm not blogging (sorry. I resolve to do better). I'm reading, but not much more than pre-selfunemployment time. My house is certainly not spick and span, as one would think it could be with this much free time.

The answer, my friends, lies in errands. All of a sudden, I'm an errand running machine. Today, for example, my schedule is as follows: wake up (check). make coffee (check). read the news/blogs/internet (check). return business calls (check). And then, viola! It's already 3 pm, and the rest of the day is reserved for "errands" before the evening tutoring. What errands do I have in store for today? Grocery store. Dry cleaning. Get gas. Go to the gym.

Now, I understand that other people do these things as well. Indeed, I did them (sans gym) in the days before selfunemployment. But really, I'm not sure how or when. Every day, I have a list of things that must be accomplished either on the phone or on the interweb or outside my house...and they actually get done now!

I'm admittedly a little concerned that my standard of happiness has sunk to the level where planning out an evening meal, shopping for the ingredients, and then preparing it constitutes a deeply fulfilling day. I've contemplated starting a writing or research project...or trying to watch all film noir movies...or learning how to actually knit. But really, I'm pretty damned content. And I figure that for the first time in my life, I'm well rested, and doing pretty much exactly what I want to do, pretty much every day.

I think I'd actually make a really good housewife. I wouldn't mind there being kids around to play with. I wouldn't mind my life consisting of running errands, reading what I want, volunteering, watching a lot of movies, and making a little bit of money on the side. And if that could happen outside of the Mary Land, so much the better.

In conclusion, we're still calling grad school plan A. But plan B, rapidly moving up in the ranks, is becoming an Estonian housewife. And I'm REALLY excited about that possibility.

0 comments: