Poem: "The Erasure of Unemployment"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem came out of the March 3, 2015 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from Shirley Barrette. It has been sponsored by janetmiles.


"The Erasure of Unemployment"


The loss of a job is
also the loss of self --
tossed away, discarded,
abandoned on a shelf.

Nothing is left secure,
and nothing still feels safe --
not home or friends or food --
those losses have to chafe.

It is no small thing when
jobs define who we are --
losing one's the worst thing
that can happen, by far.

* * *

Notes:

Unemployment shuts people out of society and ravages their sense of self-worth.  There are tips for maintaining self-esteem during unemployment.

Comments

[brushwolf]

Huh. The article you linked is interesting, but "get involved in unemployed organizations" is really interesting and less detailed. Would you have any thoughts about who might qualify for that?

[calissa]

This really speaks to my experience. Thank you for sharing it.

You're welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm glad that you found it so meaningful, though I regret your experience.

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

I have struggled SO LONG with my burnout and underemployment and unemployment. And what am i, if i dont have a job, what do i call myself when someone asks me "what do you do?"

And at that i am one of the lucky ones, i have a loving partner who pays the bills. I have financial security but not existential security, if that makes any sense...

Finding a sense of self worth has been horribly difficult.

Thanks for this. Brief but pointed, as some tools are.

You're welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>> I have struggled SO LONG with my burnout and underemployment and unemployment. <<

*hugs* How awful.

>> And what am i, if i dont have a job, what do i call myself when someone asks me "what do you do?" <<

You find some other way of identifying yourself. People have used parent, homemaker, creative pursuits such as writer or artist, spiritual ones such as priestess, hobbies or volunteer efforts like historical reenactor, etc.

>> And at that i am one of the lucky ones, i have a loving partner who pays the bills. I have financial security but not existential security, if that makes any sense...

Finding a sense of self worth has been horribly difficult. <<

It makes sense. Even if you have money, people often don't want you around just because you don't fit their expectations of what people are doing.

They forget that you don't "get" a job. You BEG for a job. Someone else decides whether or not you're permitted to have one. And it's rarely about qualifications -- when there are 60+ people applying for a skilled job and hundreds or thousands for an unskilled job, obviously most of those people could do the job but only ONE of them is allowed to work.

>> Thanks for this. Brief but pointed, as some tools are. <<

I'm glad I could help.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

I can't tell you how I did it, but I managed over the span of ten or twelve years to go from being let go being a major depression trigger to being a relief... I think part of it has to do with having a good support network, not even fiscally but just emotionally....

I know that the music and the motorcycle(s) helped... and ultimately, as Ysabet said, you have to define yourself in terms other than those on a W-2.

Burnout's a bitch. Been there, done that. Thankfully, the last time, I had a fair-sized nest egg, and was able to take the summer off by choice... and go at the next job hunt on my own terms.

Here's to finding yourself... and living, enjobbed or not, on YOUR terms.

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Short-term unemployment is a moderate problem. It causes a small but statistically significant reduction in the person's engagement in society, which is permanent. But it's something people can overcome, and it's never going to be possible to avoid ALL unemployment.

Long-term unemployment is devastating. It kills people. This is the kind we really need to reduce, and instead, it's increasing. Employers stop wanting people around age 40, but the legal retirement age is rising. So that's 30+ years when employment is precarious or impossible for large numbers of people who have little other means of survival. And employers don't want to pay people a lifetime's wage in the 10-20 years of work they seem to be interested in.

Re: Well...

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Mmmm.

The safety net is the third leg of the social contract, the other two of which are healthcare and education. Give people a roof over their heads, a doctor they can see, and enough to get by on with no fucking strings, and the vast majority of them will figure out a way to make it better. But most of the establishment ain't that smart, because disconnect.

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

I wonder if people who are voluntarily out of jobs (retired, gone back to school) go through this same sense of loss, or if some do and some don't.

It seems for Dale it's been a mix of him really having to work to separate his identity from the store, and also coming back to himself with all the things that work suppressed (e.g., creativity).

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>> I wonder if people who are voluntarily out of jobs (retired, gone back to school) go through this same sense of loss, or if some do and some don't. <<

In my observation it runs the spectrum. Many people who quit voluntarily are fine because they have some other goal, and it was their choice. Others thought they would be fine, but the dismount did not go smoothly.

>> It seems for Dale it's been a mix of him really having to work to separate his identity from the store, and also coming back to himself with all the things that work suppressed (e.g., creativity). <<

And quite a few have mixed feelings like this.

Nice poem,

[dhyvd.livejournal.com]

I was having a discussion about this a few years ago....

One thing I gained is an awareness that you can redefine yourself by other means, rather than by your current job or lack thereof.

Also, this might be another helpful site: http://www.GetRichSlowly.org/

but I only came across it today.

Over the years, the three most helpful books on work have prob. been.

"The Magic of Thinking Big"
"Rich Dad, Poor Dad"
"Think, and Grow Rich"

Offhand. I'll write a short article on it when I have more time-energy.

Re: Nice poem,

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you!