This is my third draft for a new post. Life’s corona-induced sameness is ongoing. Is there anything new to say? Let’s see.
This week one of my LinkedIn connections wrote that she got so bored during lockdown #1 that she wrote a book. My first reaction: she had time to write a book?!?!
Covid has greatly increased the lifestyle difference between people with kids and those without kids. The former have time to learn new things and develop hobbies let alone exercise, the latter are busy just getting on. The former may spend a month or two somewhere else working remotely, the latter stay put in case schools actually reopen and don’t dare go abroad, terrified of a quarantine with tiny humans.
While lockdown #1 was harder because we had to juggle two full time jobs (work & childcare) simultaneously, at least we had plenty of daylight.
In comparison lockdown #2 seemed a walk in the park – her nursery was still open, we had a clear separation between work and childcare. And a certain covid routine had kicked in.
Winter’s gloominess has now taken over. Too much Netflix, not enough cycling.
The lack of travel and events such as birthdays means we hardly feel time flowing by. If it wasn’t for my very warm coat I could be led to believe it’s still September.
In the meantime I made the shift from (unhappy) employment to self-employment. It’s going well and I enjoy having more control over my time. While I am still building up my workload and earnings, sometimes I have mood swings which revolve around me currently living off my emergency fund. Which begs the question whether we should call it an ‘emergency fund’ at all or rather something else like ‘career readjustment fund’ or ‘while-I-catch-my-breath fund’. After all I don’t feel like I’m in a financial emergency right now, not at all.
There is definitely less work around this year, but there is some, which is reassuring. You just have to stick to your plan.
My plan, I realised, is not self-employment or even FIRE – it’s being free of conformism. Which in itself is at the core of FIRE.
Whatever I do, I want to live by my own rules. Sure, with a kid rules are less bendy – tiny humans need a lot of routine to feel steady. But I chose to be a parent, it wasn’t an accident, and I accept these rules. They are part of the life phase I’m in, they are not forever.
My free-from-conformism lifestyle is much more about taking time off work to go swim on a Tuesday morning, or not feeling stressed if my daughter has a temperature and has to stay home from nursery a day or two. It’s about being able to slow down when life throws shit (or even a pandemic) at you and you start to feel mentally drained.
Although not financially independent yet, I feel lucky I can earn less for a while and slow down when I need to.
On the bright side, next summer my sister is moving to Madrid. So here’s to many post-covid trips to Spain!
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