Nobody tells you about the mental strain of unemployment. To be
fair, it’s not something you’d really be able to understand until you’re in it.
It’s hard to keep applying for jobs when I’ve already been
knocked back for dozens already. The two university degrees I have look pretty
pointless. I sometimes can’t think of anything else apart from my lack of work.
I check my emails every ten minutes, hoping I might have some good news. No luck.
The one good opportunity I had suddenly stopped dead after two rounds of
interviews. No word back.
As a creative person, I know I should be working on my craft
but it’s not easy or fun to keep writing a script when I’m so stressed. I know I
should be out there hustling, creating my own stuff, getting the name out
there, but without financial security it’s hardly a walk in the park. Nobody will
ever just offer me a creative job, I know I need to make it happen, but how do
you even start when you’re so unstable? It’s no wonder the arts are filled with
the rich – they have the time and money to get through the shitty part at the
start. Not everyone does.
We’re doing okay. Better than a lot of people in our
situation. We’ve got some money saved up, Centrelink, our parents are helping us
out. Even if things don’t turn around, we won’t hit rock bottom for a while.
But I want to work. I want to do all the creative projects I don’t
feel like working on. I want the financial security so I can be creatively
focused. How do you strike the balance?
I tried teaching, couldn’t hack it. I like tutoring at uni,
but can hardly get any work. I found the perfect job, never heard back. Found another,
have to wait months to find out. Think about studying some more, but it seems
pretty useless.
I write as much as I can, I read a lot, watch even more. If I
can just crack the job side of things, the rest will fall into place. So where
do you find the missing puzzle piece?
Lonnie Gilroy 