Mar 21

Reflections on my first official week of unemployment

I’m a writer. I journal weekly. This week, I reflected on my first week: a fresh start. I was employed on January 1, but one month later - on February 3 - I was not.

And this week, on March 17, everything was official. Which happened to be the same day that my son moved into his first apartment. That’s a big week.

This simplified entry might resonate with you, so I’d thought I’d share.

I started 2026 in New Orleans. I came home inspired. I was ready for a fresh start.

Some of those goals: Go back to church and get involved. Volunteer. Get out of the house. Connect with old friends and make new friends. Get outside. Learn new things. Do things that I love but I haven’t done in years. Find new ways to be creative. Stay active. Celebrate. Read books. Play games. Cook. Essentially, be healthy and be happy.

I’ve started every year with lists like this before, but those lists were quickly forgotten and were replaced by work. It was the same with 2026. I got home and went right back to the regular routine.

But it was different on March 18 from the minute that I woke up. The energy in the house was lighter. The atmosphere was relaxed. The weather was warm and sunny. The windows were open.

The next day, March 19, my Mom and I went to the Missouri Botanical Garden. She wanted to take me out to lunch and I wanted to relax. Outside. Celebrating the sun and the change from winter to spring. Exploring a St. Louis institution. The historic buildings. Learning something new.

Getting inspired.

I didn’t realize how much of an effect that would have on me. The sunshine. The surprising, brief spring sprinkles that we walked through as we moved through the spring flowers. The walk through the Woodland Garden with the old trees. It was poetry.

And to see the people sitting on the benches in the sun. Reading. Working. Writing. Drawing.

Which is what I wanted for 2026. Outside. Walking. In nature. Taking photographs. Learning something new. Embracing history. Exploring St. Louis.

In January, I decided to turn my 2026 goals into the new passion that I’m pursuing: building a community of job seekers. Not just through a website and a blog, but networking outside of coffee and happy hours. Using my skills to help others. Blending the purposes that I want to pursue: meeting new people, exploring my interests, being active.

Then last night, March 20, I went to my first fish fry of the Catholic Lenten season with my Mom and my brother at one of the most known fish frys: St. Pius in Tower Grove. Good food. Good people. Seeing my mom so happy to introduce us to her friends. We heard the first song played by the band, comprised of church members on random instruments like the ukelele, the banjo, the flute, an accordion, a bassoon, a fiddle. Complemented by the traditional guitar and electric guitar.

On the way home, I thought about how I didn’t go to any fish frys last year. The Lenten fish fry is a big deal in St. Louis. There’s even an online map of menus and wait times, and parishes who serve a specific ethnicity have fish frys that represent their communities. St. Cecelia has a Mexican fish fry with parishioners who sell tamales to the people waiting in line. Some of the most famous fish frys can have lines that wrap around the block. My parish, St. Mary Magdalen’s “God’s Cod” even needs police to direct traffic because it has a drive-thru. Epiphany in South St. Louis opens their in-house bowling alley for some extra fun.

I missed that tradition last year because I couldn’t drive and my son was always working, so I didn’t have anyone to go with. And just like so many other things – I didn’t want to go by myself. But mostly, it was the demands of work that even prevented me from trying. By the time I could log off at 5pm or 6pm, I’d spend so much time standing in line and the fish fry may have even run out of food already or closed by the time I got to the door.

But I’m not working now. So I got to go to the doctor on Thursday without having to take a day off. I had lunch with my Mom. I walked the Botanical Garden. I went to a fish fry. In just my first three days.

And today, I journaled about my peace and my happiness: not my depression and frustration and anger. And now I’m going to watch the St. Louis University Billikens in March Madness.