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:
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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.
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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.
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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.”