"""- fear of homelessness has way too many times in my life gotten my ass out of bed in the morning for a soul-crushing minimum wage gig. Being poor or sick or mentally ill should not be criminalized, unfortunately, that ship has long sailed."""
It doesn't help with all the layoffs that subsequently caused people not to be able afford previous living conditions- which means having to have had to relocate far- far away from family.
A lot of former IT colleagues of mine have degraded their way of living to sleeping on friends couches or leaving the industry altogether for manageable pay.
Personally, I've always had the paranoia of getting axed for being sick 'at a bad time' for one of my previous employers. My current company seems to be mostly sympathetic, which has left me in a awkwardly distrustful/appreciative state. But with things winding down right now- I'm not sure where my future lies come the turn of the year.
I don't normally post here- normally I lurk. But this spoke to me.
Learning and research is something you(someone) has to impose on themselves as a self-discipline(like working out, eating right or some other habit). I learned this early in my adolescent years- but it was not honed or realized until university. Once I got into college, I found out that I need to push myself to do the research for things I wanted to pursue- even if it wasn't directly related- in order to achieve my end goal. In comparison, as a naive kid- I would research hitboxes, best shooter tactics and related gaming notes. Now, I open myself to anything and everything- because I realize now 20 years later, that I can easily make what I learn into something I benefit/enjoy from with enough effort and perspective insight.
Long-story-short(tldr)?
Just because you don't know something now, doesn't mean it won't be important to you later. When that day comes, the last thing on your mind will be passive interest- and moreso long-term passion. Which, in retrospect- the former is the dopamine calling you home to stay placated with who you are- rather than you want to be.