Greetings, friends!
What are you already good at? I’ve been asking myself that question for the last few weeks. Long time readers know that I left my full-time job a year ago this April to pursue the nascent field of User Experience Writing. One expensive certificate and twelve months later, I’ve yet to weasel my way into a (paid) UX job. There was a period of denial, followed by a week or two of self-pity and despair. And on the other side of it, there was acceptance. There was no way I could have predicted the mass layoffs in tech or the impossibly high barrier to entry in this niche. A new plan had to be formed. Time to set aside my pride and looking for something entirely different1. I’m taking a hard look at what I’m already good at, and trying to imagine a job where my existing skills and work experiences are assets, not resume lines in need of justification.
Developing a writing and reading practice required a similar kind of self-acceptance. I had to make peace with the fact tha…