Two years later (it's still 2021, right? Time has lost all meaning but I'm pretty sure it's still 2021) I'm working as a producer at a game studio. It kind of blows my mind.
Now, I am not one of those people who cannot see their own worth. I am aware that I am competent, and I am aware that I am intelligent. Those things both played into finding my place in a career driven world. But the truth is, beyond either of those traits, the reason I have my current position is because I am lucky as hell.
I had a friend who worked for a software company that needed a temporary fill in.
I took that job, which they offered me mostly on his recommendation, and did well enough with it that one of my coworkers recommended me for my current position.
And here I am. That's really all there was to it.
Yes, my abilities at my old position came into play, but they were arguably far less critical than the fact that I was in the right place at the right time. And I'm profoundly aware of that.
There's this myth of meritocracy that, even as our economy faces downturns and shakeups, we persist in clinging to. The idea that if you're skilled you can support yourself, and if you can't support yourself, it's probably because you aren't skilled enough or willing to work hard enough. That myth spills over into all sorts of systemic oppression--of race, of gender, of class--and helps support the existing power structures.
Look, if you're successful, I'm not saying you didn't earn that. I'm not saying you didn't work hard for it. I'm not saying you don't deserve it. I'm just saying that there are other people who have your exact same qualities, who just happen to not be as lucky as you. Be grateful for your luck, and do your best not to uphold the idea that, if someone doesn't have what you have, that it's because they failed somehow.
Maybe they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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