Staying Sane

In a post recessionary economy that experts in the industry claim is on the rebound, it is easy to chart when, where and possible point figures at how we went into a slump. Economists can look at graphs and chart when the bubbles burst, the GDP stopped growing, consumer confidence started to shift toward panic, and we all started stressing out about the 2nd great depression and how it was going to affect the lifestyles we have come to know and love.

In one's life, though, it is harder to chart the expansions and recessions. Looking back at my mid 20s (which are just about coming to an end) I think I can pinpoint a secular bear market or what I more fondly like to call my quarter-life crisis. It was definitely a point of contraction in my growth cycle - - a point where I reassessed priorities and mind set and when my capital to asset ratio shifted drastically toward the latter (which today would shut down any bank.) It was above all a time when stress reigned supreme in my life as I debated what non-risky investment I should make next. Looking back, I can definitely say that I had entered a slump, which included me, a couch, re-runs of Sex and the City, and way too many bowls of cereal. I remember talks with my mother who always had suggestions on how to cope and how to get get back into the market. She named such solutions as always finding something to look forward to, like vacations (this had always worked for such influential figures as Aunt Dee Dee), reading a lot, making a list of goals, becoming the independent entrepreneur of the week (foraying into the lucrative markets of greeting card illustrator and creative caterer), and of course saying some prayers.

In the Wall Street Journal alone today, there were 4 articles focused on solutions to stress and insanity given the recessionary aftermath. The articles depicted our nation as one composed of a bunch of mental cases on the verge of break down, self destruction and panic. Mentions of remedies such as reading, prayer, and regular exercise would have made my mother proud. However, the general consensus is that these methods aren't working, people either don't have time, don't want to give an alternate lifestyle a try, or they just want the magic cure-all like the one found for pets in the form of pheromone therapy. The nation marches on in the elaborate search for (and composes many opinion pieces on) a solution for a return to normalcy.

My favorite article this morning was one about a woman who was laid off about 6 months ago and was quickly burning through her severance and savings to maintain a lifestyle that she felt kept her sane. She stated that if she didn't go to Starbucks everyday, have expensive networking luncheons, and drink flirty cocktails in the evening with girlfriends, she would go crazy. I mean really?! The amazing thing is though, during my crisis years, I used to do the same sort of thing while working the night shift in the restaurant. I used to wake up at 6:30 AM (after closing the restaurant at 3:00 AM) and rush to the coffee shop so I could be part of the morning ritual like all the normal people. Even though I wasn't burning through cash in the process, my goal was to be part of the system again, part of the regularity.

I ask myself this though, why? Why do I, why do most of us just want to fit in and have a comforting sense of routine. As part of the get up and go machine of corporate America, I should be looking back on those moments of irregularity in my life with fondness, but I'm not. I wonder though if these moments, when we cease to grow the way we always have, walk the same straight line, have the same sense of confidence, are really moments of opportunity. I raised my hand proudly in my innovation class last year and made the suggestion that perhaps the great recession was actually a good thing - - that there could be some tremendous societal, economic, or technological innovation that derived from it. My comment was scoffed at by the conservative set, but my ever encouraging professor said that perhaps I was dead on.

Instead of seeking out ways to stay sane, stay normal, stay afloat ... leverage that bit of craziness and confusion to catapult your career, your attitude, your personage to a new height. Maybe in order to expand sometimes, we have to take a step back. Maybe there is a need to experience crisis in order to prune ourselves and reassess our strategy for the next growth phase. Let's make my professor proud, and innovate in our time of crisis, even if that innovation is the cure-all for our overwhelming stress levels.

Lo