(Nothing To Do With My Work Resume)

A few years ago, I quit my job and intentionally took some time off work. I didn’t have a timeframe in mind for how long I would be unemployed, but it ended up being six months.

So it was that in that spring and early summer of that year, you could find me reading a book on my couch in the mid-morning with the relentless Amman sun beating down through my living room windows. You could find me baking a peach tart in the kitchen, for no reason at all other than that I love to bake.

You could find me wandering the city streets, ducking into a cafe to sit by myself for hours and draw in a notebook. I do consider myself an artist but not the drawing type; I’m actually quite bad at drawing.

But I was reading Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, at the time, and this is something she encourages her readers to do: take themselves on an artist’s date. By this she means, “A block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist.”

So: cafes, drawing.

Sounds idyllic, right? In some ways, it was. In other ways, it was painful and difficult. During those months, I undertook the Herculean task of pulling myself, hand over hand, out of the deep well of burnout I had gotten myself into over the previous years doing humanitarian work.

My rope was therapy, time, sleep, slow-paced days, my boyfriend and friends, hours spent talking to my sisters on the phone, and eventually, anti-anxiety medication, when the burnout gave way to anxiety which proved overwhelming for a time.

The rope was both strong and long. (I was quite far down there.) Hand over hand over hand, I pulled myself up.

Sometimes, I forgot that I was undertaking such a task – that in fact I was pulling myself up the rope and that that, in itself, was more than enough for that week. In those times, when I forgot, I decided I must get a new job immediately. This ‘taking time off’ shtick was unacceptable. Who could afford to do such a thing? What was I doing with my time?

I was not immune to the years of conditioning from our culture, jokes, ads, catchphrases, media, social media, my own family, other families, my peers. The constant messaging that seeps into our conscious and subconscious minds: you must always be working hard. Hustle, grind, hustle, grind.

No pausing allowed.

I found I needed to constantly un-condition myself. To constantly remind myself, ‘No, this is okay.’ One day, I had an idea for how to do just that. Enter My Life Resume.

I wrote a resume for the past six months, when I’d been unemployed, and I deliberately didn’t focus on what types of things ‘should’ go on a resume.

I highly recommend this little thought exercise, if you find yourself with twenty minutes – even ten! – of spare time. I found it hugely useful for turning the idea of the hamster wheel on its head.

Here it is:

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Georgie Nink

Writer, Artist, Musician, Translator, Humanitarian Aid Worker, Marathoner, Gardener, Yoga Practitioner, & Chef/Baker Extraordinaire^[1]

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Education

In Wisconsin, in Boston, in Amman, in Za’atari Camp and pretty much every corner of Jordan over the past years: Quseir Al-Kharanah. Wadi Rum, Jerash, Aqaba. Um Qais, Um Al Jimal, Madaba, Wadi Mujib, Wadi Dana, Ajloun.

Experience

20+ years of writing, creating art, writing music, playing piano and guitar, singing, working in English, Spanish, and Arabic. Healing from trauma, being a spokesperson for refugees in a broken system, bringing people together. Loving, breaking down, loving again. Trying to always have a giving spirit, accepting failures and trying over and over to reinvent myself. Waking up, getting out of bed, and going forward day after day when things are hard. Throwing parties and celebrating. Being honest and brave and showing up in my own life.

Key Accomplishments (Past 6 Months)

• Traveled to Berlin to see some good friends of mine.
• Prioritized rest, creativity, feeling like myself again, and recovering from burnout.
• Planned a trip with my best friend Meghan and traveled all over Jordan with her.

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• Worked hard to recover from anxiety. Reached out for help, let myself rest, problem solved, and bought an individual health insurance plan to help cover the cost of therapy.
• Worked on my garden and grew hundreds of new plants.
• Tried and failed to install a writing desk. (Why should our resumes not include some failures? In this case, I tried, I failed, and then Raja came and helped. Thank you, Raja! File this under asking for help, a new skill I’m working on.)
• Arranged a new book shelf. (Who said resumes have to include only big accomplishments?)

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• Didn’t run out of money. (Hey, this should not be taken for granted.)
• Booked a ticket for a Tallest Man on Earth concert. (I really love that guy. Tragically, I did not end up being able to go to that concert due to unforeseen circumstances. Still waiting for that amazing day when I can see him live.) UPDATE: I saw him live.
• Wrote new songs, designed myself a home recording studio, rediscovered old songs I’ve written, played some of my music at an open mic, started talking with Nathan about joining his band.
• Went home for my sister’s college graduation. I showed up for my family and went to visit my grandparents, uncles, aunt and cousins while back in the states.

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• Did physical therapy exercises for my ankle (running injury) daily for a while; fell off the bandwagon; resolved to get back on; got back on.
• Learned to play Wachet Auf on the piano.
• Renewed my visa so I could stay legal in the country where I live. (Yes, it was a hassle. Yes, I survived!)
• And last but not least, threw a surprise birthday party for my dear friend Basma. This involved making a lot of lasagna and going overboard with streamers in my apartment!

Now that I’ve unearthed my life resume from a few years back, I’m inspired to write an updated one. I’m curious to see what would jump out at me as my accomplishments – not the traditional ones – from the past six months.

I invite you (encourage you; dare you?) to write your own Life Resume. What would the headline be, under your name?

^[1] Why not give your Life Resume the flair it deserves? I would really recommend including the word ‘Extraordinaire’ somewhere on it. Hard to spell, though.