Not working. "funemployment" - being unemployed but financially secure. I quit my job and took a year+ off a few years ago after a fairly profitable run and a life of considerable privilege (I certainly didn't make it here all on my own). I did some traveling at the beginning, of course. Yes, this is basically Stuff White People Like #120

During that time I learned a lot about myself, and now I feel more like my true self. Having a completely free schedule and no obligations freed my mind a bit. It helped me realize what happiness means to me, what I want out of life, what kind of person I want to be, etc. It helped me be less depressed, less negative, less judgemental. I got much closer to my friends and family, and reconnected with some people I hadn't seen in a long time.

It also taught me to "seize the day" and get my shit together. When you have no excuses for not getting around to doing something, you realize exactly how undisciplined you actually are.

The only real downside of this time was people looking down on me for being unemployed. If they knew I was unemployed by choice, they treated me like I was just on vacation. If they thought it was not by choice, they treated me like a loser. It's pretty disgusting to experience both sides and realize how people judge others.

Being funemployed is not exactly a great career move, but I was able to find a job again. When I started job hunting I was extremely concerned about explaining the gap in my resume. Everyone "knows" this is a red flag. However, I found that being honest and saying (basically) "because I could afford to and it was awesome" and explaining all the good experiences I had was enough to satisfy the interviewers. A lot of them identified with what I was saying and seemed to understand.

It's unfortunate that people can't work less because I think it would make society much better, even if it would be less productive. A little more time to ourselves is more time to reflect.