Community
Taking time away from the glitz and facades of twitter was a good idea. It's given me space and helped me realize the root of my problem. Because it's not jealousy, as I originally feared. Jealousy was just the symptom. At the heart, it's really loneliness.
I thought I was jealous of all the success other people were having, which was ridiculous because past me would be super effing jealous of present me. So I just felt super guilty about all these bad feelings I was having. And then I realized - I wasn't jealous of their success. I was jealous of the community they had, the friends that screamed happily with and for them, the long twisting conversations they'd publicly have.
My week in Tucson really helped me understand this because I saw friends frequently and never once felt the urge to check social media. But as soon as I got back to Michigan, the urge returned. Less strong than before, granted, but it was there. I am, truly, an extrovert at heart and working alone at home is not going to work for me in the long term.
I know there are coworking spaces that one can rent, but - aaah, maybe that needs to wait for when we're not dropping 10k a year on daycare. A number that is not remotely an exaggeration because I just did my taxes and had to crunch the numbers several times before realizing it was real. Holy shit no wonder we have no money.
So renting coworking space is not a feasible option right now. Punching class is helping, but I can't stay until 9pm or later when everyone leaves/socializes. Another, local writer has reached out to me and I have some hopes there. Plus, our neighborhood has a monthly meeting that they finally moved to a time I can attend. So. More hope.
Just. Yeah. I knew working from home would be hard, but I hadn't realized how hard. I truly enjoyed being in the office and being around people while we were in Tucson, a fact I more fully realized when my other coworker, who had been out of the office due to a climbing incident, complained about having to be back in the office.
I know working in the office has its own share of problems, especially adding in a commute and a baby. But then again, working at home - on very busy days I feel guilty I didn't get any housework done. Or I end up using my lunch break to vacuum/cook/what have you. Which is certainly helpful, but then I don't actually take a break. Like legit, Tuesday and Wednesday I didn't leave the house except to drop the baby off and pick her up.
I don't know what the solution is in the short term. I've found some FB groups that seem to do a better job of facilitating conversation and community than Twitter, and that's helping a little. But nothing will really sub for Actual Human Interaction.
And maybe that's okay, for now. Maybe all I needed was to realize that I'm not a Terrible Human Being (TM) and that at the heart of it all, I just need a community. Because now, maybe, I can start working on ways to build that, instead of wondering how I can be so exceedingly ungrateful.
I thought I was jealous of all the success other people were having, which was ridiculous because past me would be super effing jealous of present me. So I just felt super guilty about all these bad feelings I was having. And then I realized - I wasn't jealous of their success. I was jealous of the community they had, the friends that screamed happily with and for them, the long twisting conversations they'd publicly have.
My week in Tucson really helped me understand this because I saw friends frequently and never once felt the urge to check social media. But as soon as I got back to Michigan, the urge returned. Less strong than before, granted, but it was there. I am, truly, an extrovert at heart and working alone at home is not going to work for me in the long term.
I know there are coworking spaces that one can rent, but - aaah, maybe that needs to wait for when we're not dropping 10k a year on daycare. A number that is not remotely an exaggeration because I just did my taxes and had to crunch the numbers several times before realizing it was real. Holy shit no wonder we have no money.
So renting coworking space is not a feasible option right now. Punching class is helping, but I can't stay until 9pm or later when everyone leaves/socializes. Another, local writer has reached out to me and I have some hopes there. Plus, our neighborhood has a monthly meeting that they finally moved to a time I can attend. So. More hope.
Just. Yeah. I knew working from home would be hard, but I hadn't realized how hard. I truly enjoyed being in the office and being around people while we were in Tucson, a fact I more fully realized when my other coworker, who had been out of the office due to a climbing incident, complained about having to be back in the office.
I know working in the office has its own share of problems, especially adding in a commute and a baby. But then again, working at home - on very busy days I feel guilty I didn't get any housework done. Or I end up using my lunch break to vacuum/cook/what have you. Which is certainly helpful, but then I don't actually take a break. Like legit, Tuesday and Wednesday I didn't leave the house except to drop the baby off and pick her up.
I don't know what the solution is in the short term. I've found some FB groups that seem to do a better job of facilitating conversation and community than Twitter, and that's helping a little. But nothing will really sub for Actual Human Interaction.
And maybe that's okay, for now. Maybe all I needed was to realize that I'm not a Terrible Human Being (TM) and that at the heart of it all, I just need a community. Because now, maybe, I can start working on ways to build that, instead of wondering how I can be so exceedingly ungrateful.