“I am Self-Employed, a Consultant” uhumm, “Well, I guess you could say I’m unemployed”

Well hello!  I felt the pressure of writing a clever, attention grabbing title for my very first post.  I hope you have read the “about” me section!  If you haven’t, here goes.  I decided to write this blog because, well, like many other people in the U.S., I found myself in the land of “unemployment.”   I have a friend who is in a similar situation as me, he has decided to use this weird economy to make life changes.  That kind of goes against unemployment right?  Well, I’m trying to see it as an opportunity.  An opportunity to do the things I have always wanted to do (within reason, I clearly can’t afford to travel the world), do a little soul-searching, improve my looks, my vocabulary, give more to my friends, indulge in my interests.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, I do still look for jobs on a daily basis.   I decided I had a choice – I could apply, sit, wait, fret for a job, or I can go out an enjoy this time.

I decided not to describe myself as “unemployed.”  I actually was at a coffee shop with an employed (i will use this word when distinguishing people) friend, we ran into a friend or professional employed acquaintance of her, and was asked by this guy the question I now dread “What do you do???”  I squeamishly said, “um, well, I um just moved back to Texas so I’m looking for work.”  You see, I have ben wondering if relocating constitutes being unemployed.  I was working minimally in Chicago and decided that I might have better luck finding a job in my home state of Texas (please don’t think of me differently now that you know I’m a Texan).   Well, this nice young professional tells me “Oh, you are ‘Self-Employed’, a ‘Consultant’; that is what you should say.  Guess what profession he was in?  It turns out he’s in Public Relations and clearly very talented with spinning things.  So I decided to say from this point on “I’m a consultant, or Self-Employed.  My friend Thomas who has recently moved from Texas to California for similar reasons has also decided to use the “I’m a consultant” as a profession.  You know to some extent I am.  I have more time to consult with myself, my friend and family on their lives.