🌿 A poem a day keeps the blues away…
—or holding on to your wishes while job searching 🌿
🌻 When I go down by the sandy shore
I can think of nothing I want more
Than to live by the booming blue sea
As the seagulls flutter round about me
I can run about – when the tide is out
With the wind and the sand and the sea all about
And the seagulls are swirling and diving for fish
Oh – to live by the sea is my only wish. 🌻
— Jacqueline Bouvier (Kennedy), 1939
🪴 This poem was written by former American First Lady, Jackie Kennedy, at the age of ten. And, like every poem, it can be read in many different ways.
A possible interpretation for job seekers
Three close members of my family have been looking for a job for over a year now, and it’s been a psychological and financial struggle. So, if you’re in a similar situation, I’d like to offer you one possible interpretation of that poem—not from a place of “easy advice” but from a place of solidarity. And I’d like to focus on two specific lines in the poem:
“I can think of nothing I want more”
“Oh – to live by the sea is my only wish.”
I love these two lines because they invite us to dream a little and get in touch with what lies within the depth of our soul… So,
📌 as you go about your job search, here are two questions worth considering:
⭐️ What is it that you want nothing more of—your “only wish”, if you could choose?
⭐️ And what could be ways to pursue it—even now, in the midst of the grind?
🪴 Now, depending on how long you’ve been looking for a job, and how pressing your financial situation is, the spontaneous answer to the first question might be: ANY job that helps pay the bills. And I get it! But even then, you still need to have a target in mind. And that target will depend on your experience, your strengths, and the story you can tell through your CV, motivation letter, and network for “why you” in “this role”. And the more over- (or under-) qualified you are, the more important that story…
The parallel track
🪴 In parallel, I urge you to keep your ultimate wish in sight and pursue it.
“Oh – to live by the sea is my only wish.”
Career transitions are hard. They can be chaotic and are riddled with uncertainty and rejections. AND
They also hold the seed of change: a new direction, a new opportunity, new connections, new learnings. In short, they hold potential!
So, while you try to keep the ship afloat, you also want to keep your personal “sea joy” as your North Star.
📌 Which is why, I encourage you to keep coming back to those two questions:
⭐️ What is your ultimate “sea joy”? Be it a role, an industry, a change of scenery, an independent project…
⭐️ And how can you pursue that “sea joy” hope, even as you navigate the day-to-day grind of the job application mill?
🪴 Good luck with your job search or career transition! If you are a job seeker in Switzerland and need support, feel free to reach out. I’m only a message away—and I share what I know openly and for free in every first meeting.
🦋 Happy Weekend everyone! 🦋
With love,
Dina 🫶🏽
Image of the original manuscript and illustration by Jackie, source: jfklibrary.org
Resources:
- This week’s song is LIFE by Des’ree:
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