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Well, now I feel a little better about having quit my job to work on creating "digital ant farm meets mental health app", hah. That said, I have mixed feelings

Well, now I feel a little better about having quit my job to work on creating "digital ant farm meets mental health app", hah. That said, I have mixed feelings about the article. On the one hand, yes, there are very few, if any, objectively correct answers on how to live life and so pursuing your own, unique truth is empowering. On the other, humans are notoriously poor at accurately weighting long-term vs short-term benefits. Plenty of things feel right in the moment, YOLO and all that, but dwindle as more information becomes available and doors close. Maybe I'm just projecting my own insecurities onto what I see others doing, though? As an example, a friend of mine was recently laid off. We both live in SF and they work in Customer Satisfaction for tech companies. They had recently switched jobs and, when they were laid off, they received four months of severance after having only worked for their employer for two months. They felt like they had just received a gift, didn't care about the macro-economic environment, and decided it was time to travel to Costa Rica and participate in an Ayahuasca retreat. They were so moved by their experiences that they skipped their original flight home and extended their stay in paradise a week. As they shared their story with me and my friends, I felt uneasy for them and their situation. They seemed intentionally oblivious to the changing labor landscape and I became worried for their financial well-being, but, to them, the decisions all felt right, the layoff was a blessing, and jobs always work out - right? Who knows! Everyone has to live their truth and it's entirely possible their view plays out well and I'm just a worrywart, but, from my perspective, they were overvaluing the pursuit of doing weird things that feel right. Similarly, I'm sure plenty of my friends find my actions to be reckless. Quitting a job without another lined up is something society speaks openly against. It will always be tough to make objective counter-arguments against living one's truth since luck plays a non-trivial role in all of our lives.

jonahrd 3y ago
From what you wrote, it sounds like they are already back, still in their severance window, and took maybe a 2-3 week trip? This sounds like a very reasonable thing to do when you receive a 4 month severance package. There's still time to look for work. I assume your friend who works in tech also has some amount of savings. Life isn't a single track of work that you mustn't ever get off or you will utterly fail. There's room for some amount of leeway in moments like these.
- SeanAnderson 3y ago
  Yup, you are correct on all accounts and I do agree. It's just me projecting my insecurities onto them. I had a parent die uninsured when I was 21 and my other parent fell into a deep depression and became financially dependent on me. It's only recently that I was able to get them onto Social Security. My worldview has been one of "If I stop working my loved ones will struggle." in a way I didn't exactly sign-up for as I would a planned child or marriage. So, I sort of implicitly assume everyone needs to be preparing for the worst financial outcomes possible. Quitting my job to pursue a creative project is basically a direct response to having come into some money and having reduced my dependents. It's a nice place to be, but is also quite a foreign mindset to try and embody. Hopefully it feels more natural in time. :)
  - djsavvy 3y ago
    Best of luck with your creative journey! What are you working on?
    - SeanAnderson 3y ago
      Thank you, I appreciate it. The elevator pitch is: Symbiant is a real-time, sci-fi ant colony simulation for modern browsers. It draws inspiration from RimWorld, SimAnt, Progress Quest, and Tamagotchi. You awaken to find your consciousness trapped inside a satellite's computer, sharing space with a damaged AI bent on terraforming an alien world that you both now orbit. Withered from eons of isolation, a chance encounter with an ant colony provides you with hope, companionship, a distraction, and, potentially, a way to help the AI complete their directive. Symbiant is a digital aquarium. Slow, calm, and a 24/7 source of simple entertainment. A respite primarily meant for observation and reflection, you briefly command the satellite just once per day and must use this time to make prescient decisions which ensure your ants thrive until your next check-in. The rest of your day is spent simply observing the side-effects of your actions and taking notes for tomorrow. Symbiant is tactful mental health software. Its goal is to help you be more consistent in your personal growth and more aware of your mental health. Over the course of real-world months, you help the protagonist grow their pet ants, themselves, and yourself. A quick routine involving breathwork, meditation, and self-reflective journaling is gently woven into your daily self-care habits all while the software masquerades as a colony sim.
munificent 3y ago
Because of my past, I carry around a big pile of financial anxiety. The past few years of political and economic tumult have been really difficult for that even though thankfully I'm currently in a great economic position. But, paradoxically, the better I am financially, the more stressed I feel because I just have more to lose. Anxiety is a bitch. Either way, my impression of the article is that by "weird", the author doesn't mean "risky" or "impulsive" like you're inferring. I interpreted it to mean more along the lines of "wouldn't be appealing or resonating to many other folks." Something that appeals strongly to your own particular quirks and felicities. Lots of people would want to take a few weeks in Costa Rica if they got laid off. And after Pollan's "How to Change Your Mind" there are a hell of a lot of people taking psychedelic trips. That's not particularly weird. Weird would be more like getting laid off and deciding to make a go at becoming a full time poet.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  > my impression of the article is that by "weird", the author doesn't mean "risky" or "impulsive" like you're inferring. I agree. I think the author was pretty forthcoming about what he meant: he meant that we often write off possible things we want to do on the basis that they're "weird" -- in the sense that we think others will reject those things. But doing that is a trap and we shouldn't avoid options purely based on what we think others will think about them.
- mxuribe 3y ago
  > ...paradoxically, the better I am financially, the more stressed I feel because I just have more to lose. Anxiety is a bitch... Sorry about your anxiety. But, thanks at least for helping remind me (and likely others) that we who feel similarly are not alone!
randomopining 3y ago
People who are conservative like you probably overestimate how much money they need to have saved. Plus how much less life can cost if you're single without a family to provide for.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  As an example of this... During the pandemic, I took almost a year off from work of any sort. I had eliminated all of the expenses I had that I wasn't deriving real value from, and estimated how much I'd need to have in the bank to afford the time of no income. Then I saved up that amount. At the end, I'd overestimated by about 4x and learned a great lesson about how much money I actually need to live in the manner that I prefer.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    Heh, my calculations are always under, because I go "mortgage + utilities + let's say $5 for ramen a day" and miss a bunch of things.
    - JohnFen 3y ago
      I did my estimations by reviewing my bank statements for the prior year. I was afraid of missing things, so wanted some actual historical data. Then I added an extra safety margin. I didn't want to have to break into my real savings! If I had spent a few months really tracking my spending at a granular level, I think my estimate would have been much closer to correct.
  - randomopining 3y ago
    What was your monthly "burn rate"?
paulddraper 3y ago
Some company hands out 4 month severance package to 2 month employees? A gift indeed.
kaba0 3y ago
This recent HN comment on another thread seems very on-point here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35870453 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35870453
asdfman123 3y ago
Advice like this is very very contextual and you should be very careful about applying it across the board. It’s probably useful to be relentlessly experimental with your writing if you’re an experienced writer who wants to break out of their rut, and has a fine sense of what is good and what is bad. I don’t think it should mean “go nuts.”

jonahrd 3y ago

From what you wrote, it sounds like they are already back, still in their severance window, and took maybe a 2-3 week trip? This sounds like a very reasonable thing to do when you receive a 4 month severance package. There's still time to look for work. I assume your friend who works in tech also has some amount of savings. Life isn't a single track of work that you mustn't ever get off or you will utterly fail. There's room for some amount of leeway in moments like these.

SeanAnderson 3y ago
Yup, you are correct on all accounts and I do agree. It's just me projecting my insecurities onto them. I had a parent die uninsured when I was 21 and my other parent fell into a deep depression and became financially dependent on me. It's only recently that I was able to get them onto Social Security. My worldview has been one of "If I stop working my loved ones will struggle." in a way I didn't exactly sign-up for as I would a planned child or marriage. So, I sort of implicitly assume everyone needs to be preparing for the worst financial outcomes possible. Quitting my job to pursue a creative project is basically a direct response to having come into some money and having reduced my dependents. It's a nice place to be, but is also quite a foreign mindset to try and embody. Hopefully it feels more natural in time. :)
- djsavvy 3y ago
  Best of luck with your creative journey! What are you working on?
  - SeanAnderson 3y ago
    Thank you, I appreciate it. The elevator pitch is: Symbiant is a real-time, sci-fi ant colony simulation for modern browsers. It draws inspiration from RimWorld, SimAnt, Progress Quest, and Tamagotchi. You awaken to find your consciousness trapped inside a satellite's computer, sharing space with a damaged AI bent on terraforming an alien world that you both now orbit. Withered from eons of isolation, a chance encounter with an ant colony provides you with hope, companionship, a distraction, and, potentially, a way to help the AI complete their directive. Symbiant is a digital aquarium. Slow, calm, and a 24/7 source of simple entertainment. A respite primarily meant for observation and reflection, you briefly command the satellite just once per day and must use this time to make prescient decisions which ensure your ants thrive until your next check-in. The rest of your day is spent simply observing the side-effects of your actions and taking notes for tomorrow. Symbiant is tactful mental health software. Its goal is to help you be more consistent in your personal growth and more aware of your mental health. Over the course of real-world months, you help the protagonist grow their pet ants, themselves, and yourself. A quick routine involving breathwork, meditation, and self-reflective journaling is gently woven into your daily self-care habits all while the software masquerades as a colony sim.

munificent 3y ago

Because of my past, I carry around a big pile of financial anxiety. The past few years of political and economic tumult have been really difficult for that even though thankfully I'm currently in a great economic position. But, paradoxically, the better I am financially, the more stressed I feel because I just have more to lose. Anxiety is a bitch. Either way, my impression of the article is that by "weird", the author doesn't mean "risky" or "impulsive" like you're inferring. I interpreted it to mean more along the lines of "wouldn't be appealing or resonating to many other folks." Something that appeals strongly to your own particular quirks and felicities. Lots of people would want to take a few weeks in Costa Rica if they got laid off. And after Pollan's "How to Change Your Mind" there are a hell of a lot of people taking psychedelic trips. That's not particularly weird. Weird would be more like getting laid off and deciding to make a go at becoming a full time poet.

JohnFen 3y ago
> my impression of the article is that by "weird", the author doesn't mean "risky" or "impulsive" like you're inferring. I agree. I think the author was pretty forthcoming about what he meant: he meant that we often write off possible things we want to do on the basis that they're "weird" -- in the sense that we think others will reject those things. But doing that is a trap and we shouldn't avoid options purely based on what we think others will think about them.
mxuribe 3y ago
> ...paradoxically, the better I am financially, the more stressed I feel because I just have more to lose. Anxiety is a bitch... Sorry about your anxiety. But, thanks at least for helping remind me (and likely others) that we who feel similarly are not alone!

randomopining 3y ago

People who are conservative like you probably overestimate how much money they need to have saved. Plus how much less life can cost if you're single without a family to provide for.

JohnFen 3y ago
As an example of this... During the pandemic, I took almost a year off from work of any sort. I had eliminated all of the expenses I had that I wasn't deriving real value from, and estimated how much I'd need to have in the bank to afford the time of no income. Then I saved up that amount. At the end, I'd overestimated by about 4x and learned a great lesson about how much money I actually need to live in the manner that I prefer.
- bombcar 3y ago
  Heh, my calculations are always under, because I go "mortgage + utilities + let's say $5 for ramen a day" and miss a bunch of things.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    I did my estimations by reviewing my bank statements for the prior year. I was afraid of missing things, so wanted some actual historical data. Then I added an extra safety margin. I didn't want to have to break into my real savings! If I had spent a few months really tracking my spending at a granular level, I think my estimate would have been much closer to correct.
- randomopining 3y ago
  What was your monthly "burn rate"?

paulddraper 3y ago

Some company hands out 4 month severance package to 2 month employees? A gift indeed.

kaba0 3y ago

This recent HN comment on another thread seems very on-point here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35870453 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35870453

asdfman123 3y ago

Advice like this is very very contextual and you should be very careful about applying it across the board. It’s probably useful to be relentlessly experimental with your writing if you’re an experienced writer who wants to break out of their rut, and has a fine sense of what is good and what is bad. I don’t think it should mean “go nuts.”