Hi everyone.
I'm a young person (24/f) struggling to find my place in the world and carve out a simple life and I would love some input.
To start off with some basic biographical information, right now I’m living in subsidized student housing with my partner of 5 years who's working on his PhD. I'm really grateful for this as it keeps our rent low ($1200 CAD/month in Toronto).
I finished my B.Sc in neuroscience in December with a great GPA. Graduate school is definitely an option. But the programs I'm interested in tend not to be funded, and since I've already got 35k in student debt I don't think it wise to take on another 20k just yet. There's not really a research/academic grad program that's enthralled me, yet. And I am ok with taking some time off and not being in school.
Right now, my life is pretty great. I landed a job tutoring/study coaching at $25/hr with 5-15 hr/wk. I also got a sweet freelance science writing gig that pays $300-500 an article. My income is by no means stable, but I have enough to live on and even buy myself some nice things from time to time. A commitment to minimalism keeps the expenses to a minimum. And thank goodness, with my disability I will qualify for repayment assistance on my student loan.
I think there is some kind of stigma I've internalized about working freelance. I feel bad about my lifestyle, despite enjoying it, like I’m just treading water while I should really be locking down a 9-to-5 and getting my career going. But when I think about it I don’t want a career… it’s just something I’ve heard you’re supposed to have.
I really just want to be happy and this lifestyle is the closest I’ve come to it in a while. I have some mental health problems that keep me from being able to work full-time and remain healthy (bad anxiety and mild-moderate depression). I am some of the way toward accepting this, but it's hard when I feel that pressure.
I just don’t think I care that much about a career. I want a meaningful life, and the feeling of making my own money, and personal development, but does that have to be from a 9-to-5? In a few years my partner and I will have children and I’ll need to take time off to raise them, anyway.
Basically… there’s a lot going on right now. One of the only things I know I want is a simple life. I would love to hear about transition phases you went through as a young person, and how you handle the expectation to work full-time and reconcile all this with a simple life.
Submitted May 21, 2017 at 05:18PM by 217610 http://ift.tt/2pZMa6J
