I can try, but I think I can only speak to myself, and so everything about my experiences should be filed under "Your Mileage May Vary."Western Red Cedar wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 12:00 pmDo you mind exploring this topic in a bit more detail?
These are very good candidates, but for my money, I think it is more likely that it has to do more with knock-on effects that come from how our personalities work in the world. I liked how Axel described ERE as a three-leg stool of FI, Skills, and Social Capital. I have a hard time building social capital when there aren't the routines and roles provided by work.Western Red Cedar wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 12:00 pmDo you think the time period depends at all based on personality type or individual dispositions?
I am prone to negativity, bitterness, and rumination and I suffered from these things before I experienced deaths in my family at the kind of pace usually only seen in war zones, natural disasters, or . . . plagues. But even in those extreme situations, the community grieves together. No such thing happened for me.
I'm also awkward, very shy when I am in a totally new situation. But then, if I feel comfortable it is often worse, as I am liable to get into my own little world and have bursts of passion that in no way sync up with the group. I have intense anti-charisma until I can show my reliability and competence, and then that only buys me acceptance within a specific domain. If there becomes any type of competition, I will be pushed out by the cooler or shinier people.
It's starting to become clear to me that that mini-ERE is ideal for me as it pulses a time for me to practice skill-forward ERE with near-total focus and then the work period is where I get what most people would get from friends. Examples from just the last week: a group took me out to eat and gave me a $150 gift card in lieu of a baby shower, and I was able to get permission to take the wooden pallet that the yearbooks were delivered on. Work is where the people, and a whole lot of resources, are.
In my subjective experience, it does not seem that the known date has much to do with it. It does seem to be the longer I go without a real-life social web, the more problems develop.Western Red Cedar wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 12:00 pmDoes the fact you have a clear start/end date potentially impact how you think about using your time? Or, conversely, how do you think your experience would change without a clear return date?
I bet that would help. As it is, I am married, I have cats, I have had ailing family, funerals to plan, estates to deal with, and I will soon have a daughter. It has been a long time since nomadism has been an option I would consider.Western Red Cedar wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 12:00 pmDoes your experience with mini-ERE change if you are nomadic and changing your physical environment?
But let's say I could try the strategy. For the reasons mentioned above, I think it would only be buying a little more time before problems arose.
On the one hand, there be so much more information to extract, and that is good for the brain and soul. But it's not like I'd be able to make friends or contribute much at all to making anyone else's day better.
Well, teaching has been my career since I graduated college. I'll be doing it again next school year, allowing my wife her turn at a mini-retirement, and then after that we shall see. I might put in a leave of absence for the school year before my daughter starts school.Western Red Cedar wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 12:00 pmHow do these experiences with mini-ERE impact your decisions to move away from a traditional career?
It's possible I don't leave teaching, but instead just try to optimize summers for ERE skill acquisition.