| This is a hard question because basically you're asking "where can I find joy?" Which none of us can answer for you. Elzbardico's comment is harsh, your response to it is totally fair, but I did want to highlight something in your response to them: "it seems the kind of dream team I want to be on is very rare." I do think folks in this thread have a point that you are externalizing the source of fulfillment throughout your original post. Even now you have this idea that there is some perfect team of colleagues that will make you fulfilled. Another harsh way of saying it is: if you were good enough to be on that dream team, they would have pursued you at some point in your lengthy career. You probably have enough money to have some freedom now. So... what next? Options: 1. Go volunteer, long term, committed, somewhere that truly needs help
2. Go full on hedonism for three months: travel, drugs, alcohol, sex
3. Go on short- to mid-length silent meditation retreats
4. Rent a car and drive around the country for a month with no plan Eject yourself from the SE identity and see what's left. In that space, see either what brings you joy or piques your interest. A year from now you might end up back as an SE, but it'll be with more intention . Another way of looking at this is, skip town, hibernate while the job market sucks, come back in 2024 and maybe that dream job will exist anyway. |