One full year out of work

It's been a year. One year ago today was my last day at The Wilson Daily Times. I never thought I'd be unemployed for three months, much less for a year. But here I am. I've survived it all — the shock, the loss of confidence, the frustration, the bouts of depression, the anxieties, the doubts about the present and the future, the feelings of hopelessness. I've also experienced the emotional support of friends and family, the recognition of strangers who had seen my mugshot in the paper and were sorry I was gone, the reassurances of loved ones and former colleagues, and the near-miraculous juxtaposition of frugality and good fortune that has allowed my wife and me to get through the past 12 months without dipping far into our savings. I told my wife recently that it's a miracle that her income and my unemployment have covered our expenses. "It's like the loaves and fishes," she said, and I agreed.

I started this blog to feed my habit of writing about things that go on around me. It's been a useful and sometimes cathartic release valve. I've also spent a lot of time writing fiction, about 200,000 words or more in various forms over the past year. Now if I could only find a literary agent or publisher ...

At least one of the co-workers who was laid off along with me has found a job. Many others haven't. This job market is tough!

People have asked, plaintively, how I'm doing. What they want to know but cannot ask is whether we're eating regularly and paying the bills. "I'm fine," I tell them, and that's true. I've become accustomed to the new routine. I'm a full-time houseboy and yard man, a part-time writer, part-time volunteer in five different nonprofit organizations, a cook and grocery shopper, a home-maintenance handyman, a dog walker, a regular applicant to jobs posted in various places, and — most of the time — a man who is transcendentally grateful for family, friends, home and life itself. Being laid off is a terrible experience, I think anyone would tell you, but life is good.

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I have avoided this decision for the past year but today I felt compelled to eliminate anonymous comments to this blog. A few people, hiding behind anonymity, felt entitled to insult people or make vile comments they'd never say face-to-face. From now on, readers will have to register to leave a comment. Registration is simple, so don't be discouraged. I hope the result of this change will be not a loss of exchange of opinions but a more civil discussion.