Changes....

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Big changes have been afoot at the Do Bats Eat Cats household over the past couple of weeks. My boyfriend's company and my company both had extremely bloody layoffs, within days of each other. In both cases, more than half of the company was jettisoned unexpectedly and, at least in the case of my company, amid lots of tears. I was one of the lucky few who were spared, although we survivors all have to take a small pay cut. My boyfriend, unfortunately, was not spared, and is now in full-on job search mode.

I'm very grateful to still have a job but, man, it was HARD watching all of my work friends breaking down crying while packing up their desks. As for my boy... well, we went through all the stages of grieving his job -- anger, depression, sheer abject terror. We've since picked ourselves up, made a plan, and reworked the budget, and are doing our best to stay positive.


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Oddly, this turn of events has made us want to work even more on our respective crafts -- he is a painter and songwriter, and obviously I've got my shop to keep me busy. We're both so grateful to have these creative outlets. I've been inspired to work harder on my shop because, in these times, you cannot have just one stream of income. Sales are slow for a lot of us on Etsy right now, myself included, but I feel like every sale I do make gets me one step closer to the day where I'm not dependent on some faceless corporate overlord to determine my success or failure.


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That being said, both he and I are new to this whole layoff thing and the roller coaster of emotions it stirs up. If you've suffered or survived a layoff, what are your best strategies for coping?


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