Status limbo aka my preferred state: “There’s less societal and institutional gravity.”

Really thoughtful essay on how humans desire status and how sometimes in order to get more (or more satisfying) status, we have to give up our current status.

Link: https://www.workingtheorys.com/p/status-limbo

A few excerpts:

Status limbo is a place with more freedoms than other states. It’s not freer in a tangible sense, but removing the usual status-preserving hangups lets you act more freely. It somewhat like being on the moon. There’s less societal and institutional gravity.

Getting fired is one way to involuntarily enter status limbo.3 Sudden shifts in personal relationships, such as breakups or divorce, can also thrust you into it. Or a significant, unexpected financial loss can be the catalyst.

And in that flow, you find yourself doing things not purely for status, but because there’s something in them that’s more meaningful to you. As I’ve written before: “To become truly great at something, you need to be at least a little obsessed with that thing — enough to get lost in the joy of doing it, not the allure of what it could get you.”

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