My Forced Sabbatical /Job Search Has a Happy Ending
Nine months ago, deep in the middle of the pandemic, I lost my job — despite the constant virus threat, it’s been the most productive time in my life
4 min readApr 1, 2021
I hate cliches like “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” It isn’t so easy to make something cool out of something crappy — like losing your livelihood in the middle of a pandemic/recession. So I would like to offer this adage instead:
When life kicks you in the butt, turn the other cheek.
I’ve considered this time on unemployment insurance as one of the best and most productive times in my life. I almost can’t wait to lose my new job. JK.
In my 25-year Silicon Valley career, I’ve lost my job multiple times. Previously, when I was not earning a steady paycheck for months at a time, it was pretty scary — especially when I had a young family and needed to buy health insurance for basic care (unlike the rest of the civilized world!).
