[02.11.09]

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Job Search By Candlelight

Job search by candlelight struck me as a compelling way to think about the contemplative nature of the job search experience.

Not everyone in job search mode grapples with the experience. Many relish the chance to engage in battle with others. They look to be the last one standing.

But most of us have our trying moments along the way. Sometimes we burn brighter. And sometimes we burn low at risk of burning out.

So I started thinking about other times when life by candlelight forces us to think more clearly about our situation. It doesn’t always have to be serious thinking, but the situation clearly asks more of us. It asks us to suspend our arguably more casual and flippant nature. We tend to joke and make light of things in life – especially when we are a bit nervous.

But when the candle is lit, something happens. For some reason, the candlelight tricks us into thinking more deeply about our lives. Kind of like a visual truth serum. Not forceful. Rather, the candlelight draws the honesty out of us.

. . . Visualize folks in New England after an ice storm trying to figure out how to keep the community warm.

. . . Consider a church altar filled with flickering light as a family struggles with thoughts of a sick loved one.

. . . Picture a group of friends huddled around a small dinner table, sharing the good times of their high school memories with a bottle of red wine.

. . . Stop and remember the feeling of driving past a roadside memorial, the candles still burning low in the glass.

. . . Preview in your mind a Valentine’s Day dinner this week at a local Italian restaurant, holding hands with someone you love.

You’ll have to agree, those are some pretty honest moments. You are not calculating how you will feel, you are just feeling.

Job search, in my opinion, has that same kind of power. It forces you to conserve, to focus and to act with purpose. It creates a sense of urgency in your life that is not easy to create. It forces a time line into your life – one that stops the clock and allows you a significant chunk of time to take stock. To have an honest review of who you are, what you’ve been doing and where you are going.

While you are actively looking for a job, I hope that you are also contemplating life. If, for some reason, losing your job via lay off or restructuring is not a humbling and thoughtful moment in your life, perhaps you should consider making it so.

Interested?

Tonight, after you get back to the house, grab a candle. Clear off a table somewhere in your house (the bigger the room the better) of everything and place the candle right in the middle. Place a pad of paper and a pen on the table. Turn off all the lights and light the candle. Now leave the room for 5 minutes. Use the restroom, wash your face, brush your teeth – whatever you need to get settled. As you walk back into the room, pay attention to the light as it reflects off the corners and edges of the room.

Sit down and write down what’s happening in your head. ”I’m excited. I’m afraid. I’m cautious. I’m optimistic.” But most important, be thoughtful. What will you do with this time off? Even if it is time you’d rather spend earning money, allow yourself a chance to think during your time in between jobs.

Now go right to bed. No TV or radio to interfere with true reality show you just produced.

So I am asking you to manufacture an honest moment. Because, for some reason, candles bring out the best in us. And you need your best when important things are on the line.

Pingback: Kristen Wilson

Job Search By Candlelight

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