Zen in the Age of Layoffs
Finding ancestral wisdom in groundlessness. The day began like any other: a fresh cup of coffee in my company mug, settling into my home office. Ping! A Slack message from my boss. “Can we meet early?” Of course, I replied. My mind ran through the usual list of tasks. A press release? An urgent LinkedIn post responding to new regulations? Such drills had become commonplace in our financial technology world, still reeling from Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse. I joined the Zoom call, unprepared for how swiftly life can pivot. Her words came, wrapped in apology: layoffs. My entire department, my boss included, half the company, gone. Numbness washed over me as I watched the scene unfold from somewhere outside myself. Just weeks prior, we’d gathered for an all-hands retreat in California. We strategized, rallied, and bonded. I loved my team and the startup company I worked for. I was committed to our path forward. Yet in an instant, that carefully constructed world evaporated. Anger seemed ...
