So You’re Telling Me I Get The Rest of The Week Off?
Navigating Job Loss in COVID-19
These days, the word ‘survive’ means so many different things to so many of us. Beyond the obvious pandemic side of things ( social distancing, excessive hand washing and Zoom video chatting) – many of us are now asking whether or not we’ll be collecting our next paycheck.
It’s not that we’re naïvely ignoring this new reality [insert GIF of the spring breakers in Florida here]. However, given that our lives are so tied into our trade, it’s easy to feel like it’s just us taking care of business. In this climate, the work that normally serves as our escape and distraction is no longer something we have an option to run away to. We are as trapped in the house with it (along with ourselves) as we test what it means to survive both in life and in our jobs. But what happens when that very lifeline of design work is taken away?
This isn’t my first time facing that reality. Several years ago, I was well into my third year as an associate art director at a non-profit when the market bottomed out. Being part of the branding/communications squad, we were one of the first teams to feel the ripple effect that many creative teams experience in an economic downturn. In the first week, we lost about a quarter of our team. The following week, I had to lay off two of my own designers (one of the most heart-breaking experiences you’ll ever have to do as a manager). Then, no more than two weeks later, I found myself jobless along with the rest of the senior staff. It was a shock to the system.
I think sometimes as creatives, we believe that we’re invincible. It’s not that we really believe that we are (I have way too many scars and sprains throughout my body to prove that), but built into our DNA as change agents we’ve been taught and self-conditioned to adapt and navigate the waters of every circumstance thrown our way with creative aplomb. Even if the chips are down, we never really stop believing that we’ve ever truly lost a handle on the game. But one of our greatest strengths can also be an area of great weakness. And when we’re confronted with something that is truly beyond our ability to control, we often feel like our world has collapsed. It’s a lie of course – but at the time it won’t feel like it’s anything but the truth. And for me, that was very much like my first encounter of being laid off.
It was moderately soul crushing to some degree. I had moments where I questioned my self-worth. I wanted to know “why me?” versus another co-worker or another creative. I briefly believed that the plans and dreams I had for my career would need to be put on hold. Whatever pride I had as a driven, high-achieving creative was trampled on the ground. I thought I was somehow less of a designer. And as a new parent back then, I also felt like I was less of a provider.
Thankfully I was wrong. You see, God doesn’t see job loss the way that we do.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9
It’s not that God isn’t aware of what job loss means to us or doesn’t care for us as we deal with it –it’s just that He’s so much more aware of what comes afterwards. I, like so many of us, tried to grasp what was happening as I looked to myself to find the answers. Fortunately, God knew well ahead of time what was going to happen. He surrounded me with mentors and words of wisdom before I fell too far into trying to control something that was beyond my control.
If you were laid off or are facing the possibility of work stoppage, here are some things that I’ve learned through my journey – having made it through to the other side.
Grieve - It Happened
Most psychologists and therapists would agree that any significant loss causes us to experience grief- in particular, some of those known stages being: denial, anger, depression, bargaining and acceptance. Now, I’m not going to go deep into the science of the psychology of grieving – they’ve been continually revisited over the years and too many people much smarter than me with PhDs have written profusely on the subject. All we need to know is that these stages are real, and you’re gonna go through them in some order and some way. But what’s important is that you grieve as God would have you in this loss. Be real with Him, be humble, and be human with your emotions. But also return to His truths. The sooner you can, the easier it will be for you to not only accept your reality, but also move into what He has for you next. Your saving grace will be how fast you can traverse the landscape of grieving. And it begins by trusting that, despite the pain of the loss, God has a plan for you.
“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven”. – Ecclesiastes 3:1
Don’t Travel this Road Alone
You need to surround yourself with people that know you and know Christ. When something like this happens, you will find yourself staring in the mirror a lot and making many an observation. But if you do, that perspective is limited to what you already see! The best thing you can do is to be plugged into relationships and a community that will remind you of the truths about yourself, about your value, and about God. Don’t wait until something happens for you to seek solace, wisdom and encouragement from those around you. I pray that even now, God is surrounding you with people that will keep you safe, protected, and accountable. And remember, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." – Matthew 18:20
Remember Who You Are
And who that is… is not your job. It is not your identity, nor where your sense of value should be coming from. Now before you go saying ‘of course that makes sense’ – let’s be honest with ourselves. So many times the line can become blurred between what our job is and what our passions are, especially in the creative field. We are one of those rare occupations where we are both blessed and cursed with a passion as a career, and vice versa. And as we spend more of our hours and days in front of our laptops burning the midnight oil for work deadlines, we have truly lost our identity to our work. So when we lose that very job, it tears into the core of our being. But remember, creativity is bigger than just one job. I believe that God’s plan for us often extends to what amounts as a tour of duty, similar to the missions field – a calling that can be a lifetime spent in pursuit of serving people for our Maker. He certainly didn’t intend for it to die at a single office address. You are not your current job, your last or your next. You are what God has called you to be.
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” – Isaiah 43:1b
Don’t Hide What Happened. Own it.
A general feeling that accompanies job loss is a one of embarrassment and a loss of pride. Most would hide what happened to them. I encourage the exact opposite. You didn’t get fired for stealing from the company. Events beyond your control culminated in a situation that nobody wanted to happen nor planned for. Instead of running away from the truth of what happened, share your story with those around you. The more you become comfortable with the true narrative, the less you carry that invisible, self-imposed stigma of failure or fault.
“Get busy living… or get busy dying.”
Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Redding said it best in The Shawshank Redemption. You’re welcome to soak in what just happened in. It’s certainly your right as a victim. But also don’t dwell on your misfortune. Hold fast to the truth that it’s not normal. Like the shocking twist at the end of the movie where Andy Dufresne escapes (spoiler alert, but c’mon, the movie was made in 1994), the fact that he escapes isn’t the biggest surprise. It’s the fact that he never gave up on hope after over twenty years of injustice served inside a prison for something he didn’t do. He never stopped giving up on the dream of being a free man one day, despite everything he faced to the contrary. Maybe what happened to you is unjust. Just don’t stop believing that there’s something still out there for you. Create daily habits, fight any desire to be idle, and keep your eyes focused on a goal that reaches beyond the next job, but really into the future that God has laid out before you.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11
Look Forward
So, that was me almost a decade ago. And one of the most important takeaways I want to reassure those of you who may be going through the beginnings of your own journey is this: You’re gonna be fine. Whether it just happened. You’re gonna be fine. Whether it hasn’t happened but you can see it on the horizon. You’re gonna be fine. Whether you think you’re safe, but it ends up happening to you anyway. You’re gonna be fine.
Remember, “The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry” – Proverbs 10:3a
and
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” – Matthew 6:26-27
Let me be even more real with you. Currently, I work for the second largest ticketing company in the world as the Art Director of the Product Design Team. As you can imagine, when live events are interrupted by governmental decrees that proclaim a cessation on all public gatherings, the business will take quite a hit. As of last Friday, our entire company took a 20% pay cut across the board. My new normal is currently 20% less than my normal from last week.
Am I worried about what’s coming? I’m fully aware that the next phase could be layoffs – but I’m not worried. Worried would imply that I trust what I know more than what God does about what tomorrow brings. It doesn’t mean that I am without anxiety, it’s natural. But I won’t forget what God taught me the first time around.
“But forget all that – it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” – Isaiah 43:18-19
Beyond this job, lies His bigger plans for my life. And He has one for you too.
~ Nate Lu: Spire Executive Director, Founder
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