One of my favorite things about the holiday season is sitting in front of the Christmas tree in the wee hours, sipping my coffee and writing my posts. There is something comforting to me about lights on a tree.

There’s a gap between the time I got done at my last job and when they want me to start the new one, partly on account of my surgery, which is January 16.

So I’m looking for something in the interim. It’s not been easy, because, though it feels like a long stretch to me, to an employer, it’s actually not that much time, and it’s hard to find someone who will hire me for only a few weeks.

I do have one prospect, but it’s not that many hours. At least it’s something.

I just drank a cat hair. Way to ruin the mood, Shane. Nah, but…yeah.

Since I’ve been looking for work anyway, I have also taken a peek at writing jobs. As always, there are so many great-looking opportunities out there. A few seem like they have my name written all over them.

So I’ll apply, and most of the time hear nothing back, or worse, receive a puffy rejection form letter that’s supposed to make me feel better about not being contacted for an interview.

I don’t know why they do that, now, but I hate it. It seems disingenuous to me. We don’t care that you had an unprecedented number of amazingly talented candidates. In fact, that makes it worse. Say sorry, no thank you, move on.

If you’re that worried about hurting my feelings, you probably should’ve hired me.

A personal heartfelt rejection is fine. That, at least, lets you know you were a serious contender, and it probably came down to some very specific criteria that took you out of the running.

Like, once, I got very close: two Zoom interviews that went well and they really liked me, but ultimately they chose someone with startup experience. They sent me a personalized letter, which I appreciated.

I’m not saying send everyone personalized rejections. That would be impossible. I’m saying, don’t sugarcoat. At the end of the day, a rejection is still a rejection, no matter how you dress it up.

Puffy rejections are another one of those topics I’m passionate about. In fact, I’ve actually responded to some of those letters with much the same passion I’ve demonstrated here. I would love if the puffy rejection trend went away. I will spearhead that effort. Who’s with me?

In fairness, I don’t always get rejected. I have had interviews, second interviews. I’ve been offered a few jobs. Just nothing sustainable.

Maybe the solution is to write part time, build up my experience. Volunteer. I often get volunteer work.

I just can’t help feeling this is what I’m meant to do, in whatever capacity I can.

So I’ll probably keep applying to those writing jobs. How can I not? Few things in life bring me as much joy as writing, other than my family and working with young children. I can’t sit idly by and let my dreams go to waste. I’m the type of person who has to go after them. And so I will.