Welcome To The Laid Off Club!

So, as some of you may have figured out from The Laid Off Song, I was laid off last week from my job. I had been there for almost five years, so it was a bit of shocker. I'll have to find a new job now, and the prospect is a bit daunting, but it holds promise for change and something possibly exciting.
In order to facilitate my job search, I've had to work on my art portfolio. My old portfolio was from 2005 so it needed to be updated. This is why I was experimenting with photo gallery widgets on my previous post. Right now, I'm using the slideshow widget from Good Widgets on my portfolio. It looks pretty good, but it's a little bit slow in loading. You can check it out HERE. Do you know of any other good photo gallery tools and widgets? Let me know if you do!

Now my days are just a continuous flow of "Find Job, Apply" and it's not so bad yet because I have only done it for one week. I figure I'll be pretty stressed out about it in a couple more weeks when I start worrying that I'll never find a new job.

For now, I've just been doing a lot of thinking and spending time with friends and family. Events like this in my life tend to push me closer to those that care about me and want to help me. They are my support group. I'd say life support, but I don't feel like I've died just because I've lost my job. I think there are those that identify themselves more with their job, so they are probably taking being laid off with much more difficulty.

It's funny, I feel like I've just been inducted into some kind of private club- the laid off club. People in the laid off club know all about secretive rituals like applying for EI (employment insurance). "Don't worry, " said my fellow laid off club member conspiratorially, "I'll show you how to apply for EI!" EI sounded like a very important and mysteriously unbelievable gift.

"So... while I'm not working, the government will pay me money?"
"Yup! But don't think of it as free, you've been paying premiums for this all along."
"Oh... "

EI sounded like a pretty good deal to me. I didn't have to work and I'd still be paid. I started to wonder what other cool deals I'd been missing out on by being the average, steady worker.
Other laid-off club members greeted me with enthusiasm and shocking encouragement. "You're laid off? Great! You can go travel now!" What about saving money, I thought. Why aren't these people worried about money? But they seemed to think being laid off was the best thing ever. It was a chance to relax a little and do all the things they couldn't do when they were slaving away at their underpaid-overly demanding jobs. It was a treat in the midst of the busiest time of the year - the time of the year when every one else was working at full-tilt to avoid getting laid off. How peculiar, I thought.

So now, here I am re-examining my life, wondering what there is in store for me. Should I continue working in video games? Should I change careers and become a teacher or a nurse? Should I just get an average 9-5 job so I can pay the bills and not worry about a "career"? What should I do? It's amazing how many choices there are and the simple fact that I can choose again.
I think that somewhere out there is the perfect job for me. Do you ever feel like that? That maybe, just maybe, you were made for a purpose. That all your experiences would one day culminate into one glorious profession or purpose that would be the sum of your existence and the meaning of your life. I think that would be really cool.