These are great suggestions offered by RedFox. I would like to emphasize three things:
1- using your free time to Work on yourself. I was in a similar situation to yourself in the past, right around the time that I found Laura and the C's and SOTT material. For the first time my lifelong depression seemed to be quelled a bit and I was able to get some stuff done. Then, this year all the efforts I put into making little w work happen started to come through and I found myself totally overwhelmed- physically, mentally, spiritually. I took some time off from SOTT (also other activities) because there simply were not enough hours in the day for me to eat and sleep like a normal person and I finally realized that THIS was important work that needed to be done- taking care of myself. Be careful what you wish for! I was able to figure out some things for myself in those two years that this year confirmed for me- what things "I" value and how "I" think I'd like to live my life. Of course then I didn't trust my observations and decided to take on some jobs this year that weren't appropriate for me, but were knocking those things home. It also made me think I was losing my mind at times which finally got me to go to CBT, which I sorely needed. Personally now I'm cutting back some of my work but I've been lucky enough to have other jobs offered recently that I think I will enjoy more and pay more money in the long run.
2- If you haven't read Dmitry Orlov's excellent articles on post-Soviet collapse, I'd recommend them. The most successful individuals were those with useful skills, and those who learned to network. Learning to garden is great (but I'm a gardening fiend myself) or you could learn to perhaps be a woodworker, mend clothes, electronics, speak another language, whatever interests you that you think could be useful. In the process you'll develop a skill which not only could be satisfying to you but make you a unique and contributing part of whatever networks you are in. It also probably will allow for discourse and interaction with others in which you can observe yourself and maybe even make a positive change in your local communities.
3. This is just my own observation, so throw it out if it doesn't apply to you. I work as a musician and there are basically two paths for us: get a steady gig (orchestra, teaching position, etc.) or be a free-lancer. It's great to have something steady for obvious reasons, and that's the sort of thing that they foster upon you at school. What I realized is 1. I like working a lot of different jobs for personal reasons (travel, meet a lot of people, variety of coworkers, audience, types of music, etc.) but 2. in certain times it may be even better to work a lot of different jobs. What I mean is, if Ned Numbers loses his number-crunching cubicle job, he's out a lot of money all at once. Hopefully he was able to save some up and he got a decent package when he was released. For Max Music, however, if he loses his gig at the Hilton it's not that big of a deal- he probably has quite a few other sources of income that month from all the other gigs he is doing. Obviously being a free-lancer is not appropriate in every situation but perhaps you could think about what you could do so that you aren't so dependent upon the normal 40-hr a week work system? Ie- if you had a part-time job, you could spend a lot of time on your garden producing food, or have time to cook meals that if you worked a lot you'd have to eat out sometimes. Or be able to take care of an invalid relative instead of paying money for a caretaker or nursing home. Or even take two part-time jobs that you like. There's an obvious psychological benefit to be found here as well.
Anyway, maybe these are some ideas that can help you think outside of the box.
Best of luck,
D
