My profile name is quite ironic. As an ex-corporate girl it is quite literal, like a taste of freedom after having lived and survived the 9 to 5 fever dream for over a year. Yes, I am exaggerating, but after having been in academia for so long, corporate culture gave me a bit of a shock. I was reliving the same day, everyday--you wake up, go to work, meet the same people, have the same conversations, "how was your weekend? how was the game? how are the kids?", like a tape playing over and over again. I'd do the same job, start leaving the office later and later. Why am I so tired? I started to wonder how they do it, moreover, how life for some could be so simple.
The term "outofoffice" became a bit of an escape. I started a Rednote profile with the name outofoffice as a creative outlet, to show that my 'true' self was into styling, writing, going to events, like a confirmation to myself that I did have a life. I chose Rednote because of the anonymity, a platform where nobody knows me, where rather than Instagram, I could have a clean slate. Needless to say it created an even bigger barrier between my office self and personal life. Ironically, I was integrating corporate culture into how I was living, 'severing' work from life, where my life began once the job was over.
Moral of this story is that I realised work and life cannot be separated. It can be endured but it is not sustainable in the long run if you're not dreaming of what Dutch people call the HBB-life (meaning the traditional nuclear family). Even though I was part of a team, I have never felt more like a cog in the corporate machine, an outcast that tries to fit in where she doesn't belong. "outofoffice" was a comfort, and still is especially now that there's no more "intheoffice" for me.
Big corporations do not encourage creativity, nor authenticity. In late stage capitalism it is all about money, innovation, sustainable growth, and for what? Yet, for a lot of people, especially ones in precarious positions, there is no other option. I am on the verge of starting my next corporate job for the purpose of 'building my CV', but the 9 to 5 mentality still scares me. Therefore, I hope to use this little 'outofoffice' blog to not separate both states of mind, but have them reinforce each other, and hopefully find a path in between.