Everything is a hustle, even grief
As I entered LinkedIn, it felt like a mob, everybody was angry at something. A failed promotion. A layoff. Not being appreciated enough on a zoom call. Job Loss. Job Change. An ad. Another ad. Then another. Then an ad disguised as an update.
Hurrying past this sludge I found a post from Greg. I had maybe spoken to him twice – brief, corporate dross. But on LinkedIn, we were brothers in arms. At least the platform deemed it so.
He was talking about loss. Losing his pet husky Steel. Continued it with how deeply it affected him. I’ll admit it, it was a tearjerker. I didn’t know if Greg wrote it, because I never knew him to write. He had even pushed me to write an email for him during our brief meeting.
As I read on, I began to empathize with Greg, because I had my fair share. The more I read, the angrier I got. It was unbearable.
Then, mid-grief, it pivoted — to time management tips. I nearly choked on the crust of my dry pizza
Not only Greg. I had seen this elsewhere. On Instagram. Where people refused to grieve. Everything had to be packaged in quotes that could double as elevator pitches. Or within the veneer of productivity. Just taking time off to grieve was too passé – too radical.
Maybe this is me overanalyzing things again – or maybe I’m right.
There’s a grief quota today. Strict. Managed to the last teardrop. And it’s not determined by you.
We’re neck deep in productivity. Racing to optimize the next thing. All while the guillotine of emotion hangs above, ready to slice through our carefully planned lives.
I don’t know if there’s a solution to this.
All I know is that not everything needs to be productive or tied to a life lesson.
Some things can just be.