I like Facebook...Marketplace

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find myself mindlessly scrolling. You’ve likely been there. Lately, though, I find myself slightly less mindlessly scrolling Facebook Marketplace. Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes it feels more real than Facebook or Instagram.

Maybe it’s just me, but when I see pictures of someone posed in tight, stars-and-stripes overalls, shamelessly modeling their camper, I can’t help feeling like that guy is someone fun to know.

Or when I see someone selling a Dutch Bros windbreaker and crewneck…well, first, I want it really badly. But second, that is one committed DBer. What other merch do they have? Did they work there? Can they tell me what the best thing to get is?? Where’s the best local location?? I figure they have to know, right?

Maybe I just like the mystery of it all. What led people to acquire these items in the first place? Where did he get the confidence to wear those overalls?

I’ve also been perusing Kickstarter for the same reason. People are doing such interesting things and have some fascinating/bizzare/brilliant ideas. Women’s leggings with a zipper? Such a slick design. Premium quality mini, portable kitchen? I want it. A wearable for GIFS? I mean, I don’t want it, but I’d love to see one in the wild just for the novelty of it.

Maybe the modern social media scene has just become too predictable? Don’t get me wrong, I still am on it. I love seeing updates from friends and family. I’ve got a slew of mountain bikers, artists, and others producing absolutely brilliant content and I feel like I’ve got things dialed to where I’m the better for having it in my life.

But maybe it’s just not always…weird enough, or surprising or curious or bizarre enough. Hence, my escapades into Facebook Marketplace. I’d highly recommend it. And if you find anything fascinating, feel free to drop a link in the comments.

Photography has been a passion of mine since I was in middle school. Well, sorta. I didn’t actually own a real, quality digital camera until a little over a year ago. Middle school through high school I just wished I had one. I did so much research on cameras I probably knew more about nearly any modern camera than many of the people that owned those cameras. So, passionate in a different way, essentially hoping that I would someday get to actually do the act of photography.

And I year ago I finally got one and every day since has been better for it. I did not realize how important it would feel to me to consistently create something. To have a creative outlet. Let me share some of my favorite photos with you.

Taking the photos has been fun. Editing them has been fun. Getting out and finding something interesting in seemingly uninteresting things has been fun. It’s all been fun. So, if you already have a creative outlet you love, I’m glad I’m finally joining the party. If you don’t, I cannot recommend it enough. You don’t have to be good or have it be meaningful, or even know why you enjoy it, but it you find it, do it. Cook, paint, collect something, sing, strum, edit, write, sculpt, dance, compose, sketch, craft, weave, knit, photograph, design, illustrate, carve, mold, collage, choreograph, arrange, improvise, act, direct, film. It can be a small or big part of your life, it doesn’t really matter (to me at least), but have it be a part of your life.

Sometimes, the universe aligns. Several weeks ago I started thinking, “If I’m going to grow and develop my career, I may need to switch jobs.” In came a friend and, as it happens, a reader of this very sporadic newsletter, with an opportunity that he thought I may be good for. Thankfully, after the interviews, he and others at the company still thought that. I’ll be starting on a new journey with them here soon and I could not be more excited about it! It’s going to be challenging, but I think extremely rewarding.

But during all this, I, admittedly, felt quite a bit of about leaving my current job. I talked with a lot of people about this. Some family, some friends, some coworkers. There were differing opinions for sure, but the dominant viewpoint, and the one that I came to adopt, is that ultimately, our jobs are there to help us live the rest of our lives the way we want to. If that means changing jobs will lead to a better life outside the job, then we shouldn’t feel guilty leaving. It’s our life, we get one of them, and we should try and live it fully.

Maybe for some, they find intense fulfillment in their jobs, and, consequently, are ok giving more of their lives to that job, be it in time or loyalty. For others, their job may also be their passion, leading to similar ends. But I think that for the vast majority of us our jobs should be looked at as the means to living the life we want outside of work. So, we do them well, we perform well, we learn and improve and we get fulfillment from that.

But ultimately, we go home, we spend time with friends and family, we use our paychecks to live and eat and hopefully play and give. So, when an opportunity presents itself that will make it so that you have some more fulfillment at work, and can live and eat and play and give a little bit more, we don’t need to feel guilty about taking it. If we’ve done our jobs well and treated our current coworkers with respect, the people we leave should be happy for us.

Mine were. When talking to my supervisors, the first words out of their mouths were about how excited they were for me. They are the best. And they taught me a lot about how I want to be moving forward. Grateful to them and grateful for new opportunities!

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