Newsletter from Jay Wilcox - June 2020: On "Wasting" the Quarantine
"If you don't come out of this quarantine with either a new skill, starting what you've been putting off (like a new business), or more knowledge... you didn't ever lack the time, you lacked discipline."
- Some Guy on Twitter
What's up with "hustle" culture?
What's up with "grinding?"
We forget too quickly that "grinding," by definition, often destroys things--and that "hustling" implies being in a rush. For many of us, the quarantine affords equal parts time and guilt, a sense of costly stagnation. We should be doing more. If we're not going to launch that new footwear line or plan a run for local office, we should at least keep up with Duolingo.
Look, I probably won't come out of this fluent in Spanish. Nor will I emerge an entrepreneur. One must survive to thrive, not vice versa, and it's fine to not improve at all. To "waste" quarantine. This is a collective trauma--if not for you, then for like, fifty people you know. Your future customers/employees/subjects are hurting, and as okay as it is to not be okay, it's even okayer to not always be producing.
I say this even as I produce a newsletter every month. However, these newsletters form like pearls, coalescing around the dirt in my brain. They happen naturally. Likewise, I write my novel for therapy and escape. Prioritize projects if you're into projects--and by the same token, prioritize time that doesn't have to add up to anything. It's okay to binge-watch Netflix.
The quote at the top of this newsletter comes from the quarantine's early days, tweeted by someone whose handle I've since forgotten. Who trained us to brag about stress? To wear sleep-deprivation as a badge of honor? The above quote speaks to a mindset that bullies us into overworking--into killing ourselves to outperform the Joneses.
Am I bad American? I'm not listening to self-improvement books or gunning for that corner office or coming up with ways to monetize suckers. I take the time to eat meals sitting down and read books that probably won't advance me in my career.
Years ago, I swapped a sales job for a tutoring position with my local community college--a position in which I could finally breathe and enjoy life. My clothes felt better! I smiled again! When I shared my joy with a friend, he immediately cautioned me, "Yeah, but don't get comfortable."
What's wrong with being comfortable?
In the years since joining the college's team, any promotion or advancement I've attained has come through being comfortable enough to ask for it. I love it here. I love me here, and all of that starts with being comfortable. Comfort begets confidence.
Stress is bad. Period. Remember: "side-hustle" means "second job." Of course, I wouldn't dare shame someone for working two jobs. However, I don't enjoy a culture that glamorizes overwork for its own sake--that brands isolating and destroying yourself as "building an empire" or "sharpening the axe." There are too many letters in the alphabet for us all to be Type-A.
Infinite Regards,
Jay