Giving myself a mid-year performance review (with finances!)
How my unemployment period has gone so far
December 10th marked six months since I returned to the US and began my exploration of unemployment. If you’re new here, I encourage you to check out my “About” page to learn more about this blog. By the way, all the art in this blog post is my own :)
When I began this phase, I didn’t have an exact plan. I thought about setting a routine or deliverables for myself, but I didn’t want to reproduce unhealthy productivity mindsets that may be part of what got me into this anti-work mindset. I wanted to follow my instincts and do what actually felt good to do, not because I felt guilty. Of course, there would be times when I’d feel compelled to do something I didn’t want to do, but maybe giving myself more freedom to experience that would allow me to reset, recalibrate, and find the balance somewhere in-between.
So how have I spent this time? While I gave one example in A Week of Unpaid Labor, I really haven’t had a single normal week. Here’s a quick run-down.
In June, I flew back to the US from New Zealand (related: I tried to quit the US). I flew into Detroit, took my things out of storage, loaded them into my new-used car and drove across the state to my parent’s place on the west side of Michigan. I spent the next few weeks decompressing, reading, doing art, and reconnecting with the city where I had lived 10 years ago. In particular, I spent a lot of time at the library and at the community (soup) kitchen. I also did a bit of dumpster diving and dehydrating food in preparation for the next month's adventures.
In July, I took the Amtrak all the way to Washington State to attend the Institute for Social Ecology’s week-long summer intensive. I had an amazing time getting reoriented with the movements in the US and I met incredible people I’ve continued to organize with online. Later in the month I traveled to Chicago for my youngest sister’s wedding.
In August, I spent more time at my parent’s doing various creative and community activities. Later in the month, I down to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention (see: Disappointment National Convention) and then swiftly up north in Michigan for a gathering of water protectors (see: Deep Waters, Deep Connections). August was heavy with on-the-ground activism, allowing me to reflect on my personal activism style and rest and energy needs.
In September, I stayed for a month with one of my best friends in Champaign, Illinois and took a trip to Carbondale to visit my grandmother. I did a lot of watercolor painting and learned about bike repair and maintenance through volunteering at a local bike coop. I found myself with a lot of structured readings as I joined a reading group and took part in the Ecology, Democracy and Utopia course, both through the Institute for Social Ecology.
In October, after a brief stop back in West Michigan, I dog-sat in a small walkable neighborhood in Cincinnati. I added dog walks and linocut printing to my routine of reading, writing, and watercolors and I continued the online classes. I joined a few local activities for Palestine and made a few friends through dating apps. A big highlight of October was spending time with my partner who came to visit me in Cincinnati.
In November, I tied things up in Cincinnati and spent a few days with my partner at Red River Gorge in Kentucky. I then came back to West Michigan for a few weeks before heading out on my most recent trip which took me through Pittsburgh, PA; Harper’s Ferry, WV; Fredericksburg and Richmond, VA; and then Washington DC for Thanksgiving with a close friend and a week of cat-sitting. In all these cities I explored spaces of solidarity and cooperation such as radical book stores, bike coops, art galleries, and places of historical significance.
In December, I made the return trip to Michigan via the hospitality of friends in Baltimore, MD; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PA and Cleveland, OH. I went to more organizer meet-ups in these places and even facilitated a few! I had an early Christmas with my family in West Michigan and now I’m settled in Detroit for two months of cat-sitting. After spending time with so many incredible people, I feel like I now have a reservoir of warmth to get me through these coming winter months.
Financial report
For those of you asking “How TF are you paying for all this without a job?” I thought I’d be transparent. I always enjoy seeing other people’s budgets, so here’s mine!
A few notes:
This data starts June 10th and ends December 15th (so both are approx. half months)
Eating out: I save a lot of money here by avoiding it… Other time, friends invite me (ie pay for me) when we eat out because they know about this journey I’m on. Sometimes I offer another way to pay them back - helping on a project, giving them some art, etc.
Groceries: I qualified for food stamps in late August. I also do a lot of dumpster diving for food (see r/dumpsterdiving if you’re curious).
Medical: I’m fully covered by Medicaid but this only covers me in the state of Michigan. Unfortunately I had a few urgent issues that had to be dealt with out-of-state.
I excluded some expenses for art supplies since I have a watercolor small business and I consider those a business expense
Feel free to ask questions about other things!
The number one thing that’s worked for me in terms of saving money is this: I just try to avoid places where things are for sale. Even if my companions are going and I say I won’t buy anything - I will be tempted! I try to avoid the discomfort of temptation by suggesting a different activity or just standing outside the store while they go in.
Take-away thoughts
I’ve been able to spend much more time in nature and on learning and creativity than I ever could’ve while working a full-time job. I feel more fulfilled, less anxious and more healthy (less heart palpitations!). I’m really proud of the work I’ve done on this blog, the skills I’ve built in watercolor painting and linocutting and the new understandings I’ve reached around political philosophies. I wouldn’t change anything about the past six months.
I believe that what I’m doing is valuable for society, but it’s still dispiriting to look back at what I’ve accomplished the past six months and know that while it might be good for me, I don’t know any entity in our current system that will pay me a living wage to do it (if you do, please send them my way!). From here, I could launch into a rant about how those with money (power) get to decide what is important or “needed” in our society. Obviously, I have major issues with their priorities!
I want to give a shout-out to a few youtubers, Timothy Ward and Katherout, who have been inspirational as role models for constructing this life despite the pressures otherwise. Do you know of other influencers doing this stuff? I’d love to see them - that’s the kind of ‘influence’ we need more of!
Future plans
This next year, I plan to continue in much the same way, albeit a bit slower on the travel. I’m currently in Detroit and I’m hoping to stay around here for the next six months doing house-sitting and other work in exchange for places to stay. I’ve started looking into doing some part-time work, but have so far only received minimum wage ($10/hr) offers. I’d really love to find something that relates to public health or the solidarity economy. My search here has just begun though, so I still have some hope. Ideally, I’d like to make $20-40,000 a year while working part-time and saving about half of that.
I have a lot of ideas for future blog posts. These include interviews with interesting people that I’ve met, especially focusing on those who have de-prioritized work in their lives. I’m also going to write about the privilege that has gone into making this lifestyle possible for me. I have some thoughts about how neurodiversity fits into the work and anti-work experience. Some other ideas that are in the further distance are reflections about travel ethics and sustainability and being a nomadic activist.