What being a unemployed and privileged has taught me in 2020.

It is 2020, the year that COVID-19 has ravaged the world. It has not only exposed the fault lines of each country, but also violently pulled the carpet of security from under people’s feet. There is not only widespread fear over health and death, but also a long-standing anxiety attack over the permanence of job security.

I fortunately or unfortunately have been unemployed for a while. The COVID-19 pandemic has not brought any additional anxiety attacks' that did not exist earlier. However, since I am a member of a relatively upper-middle class household in the metropolitan city of Bangalore, after burning through my saving, my parents have in infinite graciousness allowed me to stay with them till I find standing of my own.

So if I had to enlist a few of the things that I have learnt in my time of unemployment luxury, it is the following:

1. Gratitude- The biggest lesson I have learnt is gratitude, not only for having the ability to take my time to look for another job (and hence for my supportive family), but also for the experiences that I have gained from my past failures, slip-ups and mistakes. Just the general lesson of being grateful for what I have when I have it.
2. Fear- As long as I try to make fear my enemy, it gets harder to push through. However, when I embrace it, it shrinks in size in my head, and taking the next step is that much easier. Make no mistake, it is not a one-step achievement. It is an everyday affair. It is those eyes that look back at me on my numerous black mirrors that I encourage everyday.
3. Time- A highly valuable, and tricky dimension in our universe. It goes both fast and slow relative to the traffic in our heads. It is never enough, yet at the same time, enough to do what we need to. I have always had a bad habit of taking time for granted. I am sure, most of us have felt so specially during 2020, where February to November seems to have passed in a haze. There are numerous studies that show us that the quality of time we spend subjective to us, determines how fast or slow it goes. When does it go fast for you? When you do something you like, or when you are binge-watching series?
4. Relationships- Tend to get trimmed on their own. The true one’s last the period of unemployment, and those are the true friends or family that one should hold on. I have determinedly seen that people assign value to your productivity, or appeared productivity. However, value is one who creates value, not creates income; that would be my belief. We discriminate against someone without a job, unknown to why they are unemployed. Worse, it is assumed the person isn’t good at their job, a sentiment that unless enquired about, is unfounded. Nevertheless, the weight of superficial relationships withering away give one the space and time to grow themselves.
5. Social media- is nothing but reality television. It only let’s you peek into a biased life, and not gain any relevance. The toxicity of social media really hits you when you are sitting in pajamas, looing through LinkedIn for jobs, and simultaneously scrolling through Instagram. There is a phase where you are reaching for your pillow, and after a while, it becomes a mirage. That moment is emancipating. Social media is a mirage.
6. Busy- the most abused word in the dictionary in the 21st century. How someone used their time, and how they perceive time is very relative. I have heard people who are making spreadsheets for 5 hours a day say they are too busy. I have also heard people who have two video meeting declare they are too busy. I have also heard people who work two jobs, with uncertain timings say they have time. You can determine your priority based on how often someone say’s they are busy to make time for you.
7. Confidence- takes a real hit. So find everything and everyone that you can to keep you motivated and boost your self-confidence. The longer you stay unemployed, the tougher it is to recover. Keep at it.

All-in-all, I believe unemployment isn’t the worst thing if you have someone to fall back on for that period of time. Embrace it. However, it would be arrogant of me if I didn’t salute the incredibly resilient people who do not have the luxury I have. It is true, adversity does produce true diamonds.

To be honest, I have at times wished I didn’t have the luxury, I may have not felt I had the option of resting. I do carry a deep sense of guilt over my dependence. This guilt has only hampered my efforts, and I have ever since been working on myself to replace it with unrelenting drive.

So at this time, where economies seem to be tethering, and the world leaders are on shaky ground, if you find yourself laid-off or looking for work, and you do have the privilege that I was privy to: it is time you get creative with your skills, and look towards the future. Fret not, the sun always rises the next day.