Zen And The Art Of Personal Maintenance

Posted by: Cathy Arnst on November 28

This entry was written by Savita Iyer, a freelance financial journalist now living in The Netherlands who frequently guest blogs for Working Parents.

As a freelancer, I have been constantly pounding the cyber-pavement looking for work. I have never said ‘no’ to any assignment, no matter how small it was or how insignificant its remuneration, because I’ve been always spurred by the relentless and grinding fear of finding myself in a situation where I have no work.

Now, I’m up against a situation where I could possibly lose out on all work. The US, where most of my employment comes from, is in a recession so bad it seems there are no more ways to describe it. My 401(k) account is virtually non-existent. My husband, in the home stretch of a doctorate, has yet to find a job somewhere. And the city of Mumbai, India, is under siege; the bulk of my work over the past years has been writing about the Indian economic miracle – which anyway is completely a moot and meaningless point in face of what’s happening there right now.

All the odds seemed to be stacked against me and yet I find that I am more Zen than I have ever have been in the past five years. There is a very real possibility of my life – my family’s life – taking a disastrous turn, but somehow, despite all that’s going on, I feel more peaceful than all the years where I was consumed by the fear of being out of work.

I’m not sure why I feel this way, but I guess it has something to do with the fact that… well, there’s nothing I can do. I may be experienced, qualified, whatever. But there are forces out there — and it’s another whole debate on how they came to be and what they stand for – that are just much, much stronger than me.
Like my friend Lauren Young, then, I’m just giving thanks, for what I have now.
I also send my wishes for my friends and family in Mumbai, including a journalist friend who is on site at the Taj Mahal Hotel. I’m thinking of you all.

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