JOIN (FMF31 2019 Day 9)

I am participating in 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes 2019 (all of my submissions can be found here).

Today’s prompt is: JOIN

I am a joiner. This has become more and more apparent the older I have gotten.

I know this may sound contradictory, since I recharge best by being alone, but having an affiliation with a group matters deeply to me.

I realize, now that I work full-time for one place again (instead of freelancing for multiple places at once), that my psyche is so much more geared toward belonging.

That’s not to say that the places where I freelanced (including the place where I now work full-time) went out of their way to alienate me. Not at all.

But as a freelancer, there is always, by nature of the arrangement, a sense of being on the outside looking in.

I kind of joke around with my current employer that the main reason I wanted to be full-time was so I could hear what was going on in the “random” channel on Slack. (That’s where people chat about whatever they want to talk about (within reason) rather than work topics). As a freelancer, you were limited to the “general” channel. OH THE FOMO. (But I am kidding — I wanted to work full-time because I love the work we do and needed the income — by the time the full-time opening was available, I no longer was obligated to deal with my father-in-law’s needs as he had passed away, so I could turn myself to working more hours.)

The act of joining was anything but random for me.

Paula Kiger

Wife of one, Mom of two, Friend of many. My pronouns are she/her/hers.