This Is My Job Application

This is my official job application to be a writer.

I’ve been writing since before I can remember as a way to process my emotions without imposing them on anyone else. I know that is not a healthy start, but how can one grow without being planted in some dirt? As I practiced different styles and grew into my – loud – voice, I found that other people had the same human emotions that I did. I realized that I could relate to people without having them know the parts of me I was still healing. Since I lost my job in March, writing weekly for this blog has allowed me to help people with being alone and not feeling alone.

Six months later, I am still unemployed, still writing, and still hoping that when someone reads this post, it can offer a bit of relief.

I’ve applied to at least two jobs every day for the last four months. I know that we are 10 million jobs short of what we had before the pandemic, but I have to keep trying. Right? No matter how many left-on-read messages, unanswered follow-up emails, or automated responses I have, if I keep trying, something will happen. That something may be my inability to pay rent in the coming months or a diet of plainly rice and beans. That something may be a career change to something more stable than the rock star lifestyle of a freelance filmmaker. Something will happen, but I just don’t know what that will actually be.

But I know I can write.

For your records, to whoever is reading, I’m a 5’2”, white, bisexual, Sagittarius woman who is vegan and gluten free due to severe food allergies. I was born and raised in Arizona, lived in Georgia for five years, and now live in Brooklyn. I studied film at SCAD, and I graduated a year yearly after getting a year’s worth of college credit in AP classes. I earned my Girl Scout Gold Award, and I am a lifetime member of the Girl Scouts. This is who I am on paper.

None of those factors are the reason why I am a writer.

I write because I love people. I think people are the most incredible thing. Every human has their own background, ideas, habits, and beliefs that you will never be able to narrow down to descriptors on a résumé. I love when I am challenged or corrected by someone around me who knows more about a subject than I do. I constantly want my eyes opened to new perspectives, and that doesn’t happen without other people feeling safe and happy enough with themselves and with me to share their thoughts. I want to be able to reach as many people as possible and learn all that I can from them to grow as a writer and a human.

These are my cards. I hope they play well.