The last three months have forced us all to acknowledge the good and bad bits about our lives. Maybe you love your husband, but hate your job. Maybe your apartment walls have closed in on you, and you need a house with a lawn in order to be comfortable. Maybe you've gone vegan for the environment but your petrol car is still bugging you, so you think now's the time to buy a Tesla.
This is why The Great Resignation isn't just about jobs. It's a mindset. In my own immediate group of friends and family, this spring I've witnessed a marriage separation, the excommunication of toxic friends, the quitting of jobs (without others lined up), the dissolution of leases and sale of houses, a couple of moves out of Auckland, and one permanent migration out of New Zealand.
People are, en masse, making grand changes in their lives because lockdown causes a rethink on the grandest of scale.
Similarly, while some people have used this lockdown as opportunity to get angry at the establishment (as seen with nationwide protests of late) I suspect many of these people aren't really upset at their "tyrannical government", vaccine mandates, or what they call the dissolution of freedom. I believe they're angry at the state of their own lives. Instead of The Great Resignation being introspective (the examining of one's own circumstances leading to a new job, new house, or new city), they have made The Great Resignation a resignation from authority.
What few realise is, none of us are in our right minds at the moment. We haven't been for months. Whether you're deciding never to return to your office cubicle or deciding not to respect anyone "telling you what to do" anymore, our current state of mind is an augmented reality. It's the compound result of stress, anxiety, boredom, and absence of socialisation.
And why wouldn't we all be going crazy? This is, after all, a very unnatural human experience.
I'm married to a soldier, and every time he deploys overseas, the Defence Force issues us with a little handbook. Basically, it tells you what to expect, how to cope, and who to turn to for support – messages nobody ever gave us for three-plus months in lockdown.
When I think of The Great Resignation and the general unhappiness in society right now, I think of a particular page in this handbook.
See, soldiers have a knack for doing really stupid things in the aftermath of a deployment, like buying a $30,000 ute they can't afford or leaving their marriage. With this in mind, they (and their partners and families) are advised not to make any major life decisions or purchases during or in the six months after a deployment.
It is generally accepted we are not of normal, sane mind while our emotions and experiences are heightened beyond normal standards. Our decision-making ability is compromised.
As such, I think many who've actioned on The Great Resignation may look back on it as a mistake. I truly don't believe you're as miserable as you think you are. Nor should you be making drastic life decisions out of short-lived desperation.
And we are desperate. All of us. Desperate for freedom. Desperate for normality. Desperate for The Way Things Were.
That won't be resolved with a change in job or joining a protest group and funnelling your efforts into changing the status quo. It will be a good distraction, yes, but will be a decision made outside of your normal, balanced, rational lucidity.
The Great Resignation might have good intentions, and you might think it's the right move for you. But if you haven't done anything out-of-character yet, hold off if it's major, will you? Park your grand plan, and see if it's still in your best interests once 2022 comes around.
