Does it Make Sense to be Thankful for Chaos?

This Thanksgiving season, as I think about what our menu will be for the first Thanksgiving I’ll be hosting, I’m also thinking about what I’m thankful for this year.

I’m always grateful for my family and friends.  Amazing, supportive people who make life what it is.  But there’s something new to add to this year’s list.  I’m grateful for the chaos of not having a “job.”  I could be scouring the want ads, and stewing about the fact that this year I’ve had not one, but two full-time jobs end quite abruptly because the companies were forced to downsize.  It would be easy to be bitter and panicked.  I could be worrying about money, and stability and the possible complete lack of both.  But, it’s an opportunity.

I have spent my career floating from one job to the next taking new skills and relationships from each.  Usually the skills I picked up had little to do with the job for which I was hired.  As an affiliate manager, I taught myself Photoshop, HTML, CSS and enough PHP to hack around in WordPress sites.  Not to mention, I learned what affiliate marketing was (I had to look it up when they called me for an interview – I had not clue one what it meant, even as I was being interviewed).  I made banners, wrote sales copy, and reluctantly became a team leader.  As a product manager and marketing VP, I taught myself to edit video, build landing pages, how to work on almost non-existent deadlines, and some pretty decent mind-reading skills.  And from everything I’ve ever done, I’ve learned how to work with clients, be self-managed and motivated by deadlines.

I’m Jobless & I’m Grateful?

Now here I sit, no longer technically unemployed, but jobless nonetheless.  And excited about it.  I’m self employed.  While the lack of structure, routine, and predictability of a paycheck every two weeks is gone, I’m grateful for the chance to figure out what it is I really want to do when I grow up, and just do that.  Maybe I’ll succeed.  Maybe I’ll fail.  But I’ll know either way it was because of what I do, not what someone else does not.  And for that, I’m really grateful.

So as I drive my friends crazy taking pictures and video of both the making of this year’s Thanksgiving meal and the devouring of the same, I’ll be thinking about how different this year is from most.  And I’ll be looking very much forward to what the next year brings and who I’ll be working with.  From my living room.

Gratitude is a really freeing thing.  What are you grateful for this holiday season?

Oh PS – I’m available for projects in all of the above things and more.  You can find more about what I do at http://creativeduckies.com and http://localduckies.com