Andddd....I'm back! It only took me, what, five months, give or take a few days? Unfortunately, I hit a very, very bad streak of writer's block, and thus abandoned my blog for other, seemingly productive things. I've also been insanely busy the last few months and that just hasn't allowed for writing time. Huzzah, as I have found a moment or two!
I wish I could put down all the wonderful, exciting, and all out crazy times I've been having living in, but hey, no one wants to sit here reading about that for two hours and Lord knows I sure don't want to write for that long either. Let's see then, my two best friends got married (to each other!), my roomie and live-in best friend got engaged (gasp!), I got a new job that I absolutely freaking love, finally visited New York, read an exorbitant amount of books, volunteered, attended musicals, went to the beach, spent time with friends, discovered coffee (still debating on whether to list that on the pros or cons), barbecued, cooked, saw Ingrid Michaelson in concert (she was so awesome), went on long hikes, planned a trip to visit Washington DC, and started a new and odd fascination with woodworking. That's the short of it, naturally.
So, been busy, enjoying life, and overly reveling in a soothing contentment I have with life right now. I honestly can say for the first time in a long while I feel satisfied, content, and relieved with life. Work can be stressful sometimes (looking at you condescending customer I had today), but it's so rewarding. I honestly feel productive and that I'm actually doing something with my day. I'm never bored or idle, it's extremely active, and I'm learning so much. I never saw myself in a blue collar job, but now that I have one, I really love it. I love putting my brain to work, solving problems, working with a great team of people, and yes, actually enjoying the trucks. It's a complete 180 from what I assumed I wanted in college. I went to college, received a fantastic education, but it really instilled in me this wariness of a firm middle class job. I never would have thought of looking to a trucking company as valuable, viable work. But now that I'm in it, I see it's benefits. I have steady hours, more than decent pay, and the knowledge that I go to work everyday happy. I'm not embarrassed for working for Ryder, because I know by working with them, I am so lucky. Luckier than so many I graduated with. I'm appreciated for the work I put in each day, and spend my day with a great group of people. Yes, it can be exhausting, but compared to my previous job, I never feel as emotionally or mentally drained anymore.
As I have said before, things turn around. Life gets better. Sometimes you have to go through the shitty bits to get the gold. Cliche, I'm sure, but true nonetheless.
But returning to earlier topic, I feel that university and college education steer young adults from perfectly good, rewarding work because it doesn't require a degree. I chased away work like this for so long because I saw it 'beneath' my degree, when in fact this job has made me the happiest I've been since I graduated. Yes it can be hard, but it also calls for resourcefulness, problem solving, multi-tasking, and the learning curve is enormous. I think these types of jobs are constantly overlooked by my generation, by those with degrees, as debasing, when in reality these jobs are just as grueling as something related to academia, but with a nicer safety net. My current lowly blue collar job has put more of my education to use than my previous two jobs. I think we need to stop disregarding blue collar jobs, and start remembering how important they are to young adults and our national economy. I enjoy working these hard working people, I enjoy waking up early and spending my day doing something productive that has a tangible result. I love feeling that I have done something besides speculate and theorize with my day. I have a result I can point to and say 'yes, I did this, I made this happen'. It's a great feeling, and one that has helped me exponentially. I have time to spend on hobbies that I love and miss, I can save money, I can spend a little too, and have time to do the things love with the people I love. Like Michigan and Washington DC. Spending time doing non-work related activities is so crucial, and I feel so much better about myself now that I can actually do that. I see people more, go outside more, read more, cook more, explore different hobbies, and in general live life more. Your life shouldn't just be about work, about scraping by. And now that I have time to do that, things don't look so bad.
I realize this is not something every person gets to experience, and in many I wish to help alleviate that. I worked and worked and sweated and cried, and I got lucky is the long and short of it. I worked hard, and in one fell swoop of luck, I landed a job that has given me a new perspective on life as well afforded me the time and education to do so. I count myself lucky, blessed, and well, happy. Things are looking up, and I've reached a place in my life where I want to be. I can finally look to the future with more than a squint and a dim hope. I might just make something of myself yet.
Also, song of the day: Girl by Jukebox the Ghost
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