What I miss about working

I brought home my last paycheck over six months ago. So obviously one thing I miss is the paycheck. But there’s so much more of greater importance.

I miss

• brainstorming new Web pages and architecture, designs, program names, story ideas, strategies, etc.
• laughing together at silly ideas that come up
• watching silly ideas get turned into something clever, resourceful, even practical
• listening to a client’s plans, desires, and ideas and attempting to take them a step further
• telling the client that I just did something over and above what was promised or expected
• the thrill of working out the code or solution to a problem that’s been waking me up at night
• watching usage stats, reviewing search logs, checking on link-backs, reading what others have to say about me, my colleagues, and our clients
• excellent conference speakers
• sharing good food after listening to great speakers (or even suffering through dull ones)
• being able to offer some good advice
• getting good advice
• fact-checking, fixing my own mistakes before someone else catches them
• preparing for presentations
• tightening language, making instructions more clear, reducing jargon, writing in plain English
• going to new places for lunch
• going to familiar places for lunch and running into seldom-seen colleagues
• learning about the work of my colleagues
• sharing in the successes of my colleagues
• enjoying the successes of my clients
• mastering a new skill
• seeing the end of a large project ahead in the distance, knowing we’re going to make it
• mapping the progress of a project
• Aha! moments when interviewing users or getting feedback from colleagues
• getting specific and intelligent feedback
• thank-yous

Taking care of a mother with dementia doesn’t give you very many of those rewards. It’s the working cooperatively with colleagues (or siblings) that I really miss. And there will be no pretty package to present to others when I’m finished. But there are more rewards than you’d think. Mom’s a long-term project requiring lots of creativity, lots of emotional intelligence, and a lot of planning. I get to spend time with a funny and eccentric lady. And she’s good at showing her appreciation of what I do. Really, I’m pretty damn lucky.