Lessons I learned from my first #layoff

I have been spending a lot of time on LinkedIn in the past months. It feels strange to be back on social media in the realm of negative emotions, especially during a tumultuous time in the job market. (Leaving Twitter, Insta, FB, etc years ago after professional overuse was one of the best things about leaving politics and media, tbh).

Allow me to place a rock in this river of bad feelings and feel free to swim around it. This rock is called "thoughts I've had since being #laidoff last year for the first time in my career."

• The structure and culture of LinkedIn make it difficult to grieve. Regardless of where you are in your career or your role's development (whether you've just started a new position and are excited to learn or you were feeling stagnant and ready for a change), a layoff can abruptly alter your expected trajectory. It's important to mourn the loss of your anticipated path. However, social platforms are an awkward place to engage in mourning. Even the rest of my list skews toward positive framing, it's hard not to feel that gravitational pull on these platforms.
• All stories have ups and downs. Obstacles are a part of the overall satisfaction journey. Through numerous conversations with peers, mentors, and friends, one theme has repeatedly emerged since last year: everyone who is content and fulfilled with what they're doing has encountered obstacles in their past. Satisfaction, by definition, requires overcoming challenges. In the long run, a layoff can serve as one such obstacle on your path to where you're meant to be. However, during the low points, it's hard to see it that way.
• It's good to put your struggle in perspective, but not to undermine it. Particularly for mid-career or senior professionals who may have more options or a runway, it's easy to dismiss negative feelings in favor of making space for those with fewer opportunities. While it's important to consider your struggle in the broader workforce, undermining it, especially to yourself and your close friends and family, is unhelpful. It goes against building an inclusive community that recognizes everyone's experiences and avoids false distinctions between employee types.
• Movement is a low-cost and effective way to combat feelings of being lost. After many weeks of feeling adrift, trying to understand why (there's no really satisfying answer), and contemplating my next steps, I decided to take action. For me, this involved reaching out to people, having coffee chats, making phone and video calls within my network. I also volunteered with nonprofits and startups in my areas of interest. The act of moving forward itself was beneficial. Also, actual physical movement is extremely beneficial (I've run almost 800 miles since my layoff!).
• The absence of feedback and data can be disorienting. After spending years working in teams with trusted peers and leaders, finding myself in a feedback vacuum felt strange. I found therapy, relying on close friends and family, and volunteering to be helpful in finding a different path toward feedback and data.

This experience has been memorable. I've learned just as many lessons from being laid off as I have from any job I've had. I hope these thoughts resonate with someone else on their journey. I look forward to sharing more about my next professional endeavor soon. However, I wanted to take a moment to capture these thoughts and acknowledge this challenging period.