It’s 7 full months since I left my lucrative job as an MLE in tech. Just wanted to take some time to summarize what I have done and to think about what to do next.
What I have done
6 children’s picture books. I wanted to learn how to use image generation with AI. I did gain a decent amount of knowledge about that and was able to generate picture books liked by my own child.
2 YouTube channels. I started out these channels to promote my books, and then expanded to other topics for child education. Only ~3000 views and ~20 subscribers. It’s interesting to learn about video making and editing. But the motivation and momentum to carry on wore off.
Several books. Some about parenting, others about social science. I’m very glad I finally had the time to read beyond what’s needed for earning a living.
Digital art. Drawing and painting was my childhood dream. Since I restarted to learn digital painting, I could see my progress in every practice work. It was very fulfilling.
Family chores. We are able to cook and dine at home, never needing to rush after work through the evening any more. My husband leaves home stress-free, knowing he doesn’t need to worry about sending the kid to daycare and can be on time for work. I enjoy the way to and back from the daycare with full engagement. I have achieved the goal to improve the mental health of the entire family.
What to do next
It’s coming to a point where staying at home starts to be boring. And I don’t picture myself as a stay-at-home mom for the rest of my life. I enjoyed exploring and developing things based on my own interest, but sometimes things can only go that far, like the YouTube channels. The idea of returning to work popped in my head more and more often.
Two weeks ago, I received a message from my previous manager saying he had an opening in the team and would like to have me back. I was not sure if it’s a good idea, since I left partially because I didn’t like it there. Meanwhile, the job market is terrible. Declining the opportunity could mean another half a year or longer without employment. I initially planned to start job hunting around September when my kid would have settled down in a new school. But now I probably will start sooner to test the market.