I know that intellectual charity is a virtue one should practice, but I can't resist to think that the text is mainly in favor of very dangerous gambling with the added argument that "sometimes, you can win, like I did".
In praise of blowing up your life
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Re: In praise of blowing up your life
#12I want to do this so bad with a couple things in my life. But I know I won't because those things matter so much to me and I can't stomach putting those decisions up to chance, even if doing so would make me feel better 6 months out. Maybe I should try being a little more selfish!
Re: In praise of blowing up your life
#13The flip side of blowing up your life regularly like this, is you are throwing away momentum you may have accumulated in your current life.
Re: In praise of blowing up your life
#14Sure. The only way to improve yourself to next level is ... blowing up yourself, or, getting out of comfort zone.
It's fine that you do not want to do it. But there's a tradeoff here, it's harder to upgrade yourself.
Re: In praise of blowing up your life
#15I am loving HN for that, there's always an article coming up on the front page that resonates with my current state of mind. Inspiring piece!
Thanks to the author instead ?
Re: In praise of blowing up your life
#16I blew up my life when I moved to Denmark for an MSc studies.
I moved to a new country, amidst covid, without a social support system, without speaking the language, without having financial security.
I was terrified of doing that … but it was around the time in 2020 when r/WSB was growing, and saw people “yolo ing” more money than I ever had. So I said yolo.
I barely made it through; got super depressed due to isolation, lived on the brink of poverty, but some how (thanks GME) I survived. Though I did take a break for a semester.
When I “returned home”, 2 years later, i found myself a stranger, a foreigner. All my friends had moved on, almost everything had changed, and so had I.
Would I do it again? Absolutely. A bit differently; sure. But I’d do it again without hesitation.
And then I did.. I moved to $currentlocation, barely any money, didn’t speak the language. All because I got a job at FAANG because I found an email from some recruiter in my junk folder and responded back. I finished my MSc, leading a project and aiming for promotion.
In about a year or so, I will do it again; almost as if it is becoming a habit.
It is very lonely, I am not going to lie about this, but it is also an adventure.
Re: In praise of blowing up your life
#17For a time, sure. But once you've got kids, there are drastic consequences to blowing up your life.
Re: In praise of blowing up your life
#18I don't entirely disagree, but the first thing that this article brought to mind is the old cliche "wherever you go, there you are". I'm 34, lots of ex girlfriends and lots of past cities. There's a fine line between breaking out of the status quo hamster wheel and running away from your baggage. Moving cities, or relationships, or jobs isn't worth as much if you aren't simultaneously working on yourself
>There's a fine line between breaking out of the status quo hamster wheel and running away from your baggage.
Absolutely. I've had the urge to move from my hometown to escape baggage, mainly relationships. I've been close to pulling the trigger many times. But things got in the way and now I look back and I'm happy I didn't move. At least for that reason of escaping baggage. Odds are you'll have baggage anywhere you live if you live there long enough. Learning to grow and live with that baggage is part of being a human.
Re: In praise of blowing up your life
#19The flip side of blowing up your life regularly like this, is you are throwing away momentum you may have accumulated in your current life.
This is particularly true when it comes to your place of residence. Moving constantly means you never "lock in" a level of expenses and will always have to earn more to keep up with inflation of housing prices (be it rent or purchase price). At least in Europe it is common to have indefinite rental contracts with a clause saying they can never raise the rent more than LOW_SINGLE_DIGIT% per year or even only for 10 years and not after.
Re: In praise of blowing up your life
#20I guess, if you're well off, perpetually single and childless, and have the sort of connections that allow for taking a 6 month break for no reason.