I don’t know why I’m still at my job. What started out as traveling for a few days a month has turned to weekly out-of-state or international travel, sometimes for weeks at a time. A shakeup at the top has left me performing more work without additional pay and curtailed my expertise in the field into becoming a glorified sales rep. I am paid very well, but I’m never home, I’m always exhausted, and I think my physical health is deteriorating. They have laid off so many people already and I wish they would just lay me off too! I’ve started a second job that is FAR more relaxing, and I could transition to it full time, but it would be about 25% of my current salary, and given these times… I don’t know what to do. Can the cards advise?—Burnt out Beyond Belief
Cards: Nine of Swords (reversed), Ten of Wands, Knight of Wands (reversed), The Chariot (reversed), Queen of Pentacles
Dear BBB,
Before I get to the cards, some general advice: if there’s a good chance that you’ll get laid off and/or fired, and that includes some sort of severance, wait it out. Anything that will allow you to still collect some money or allow you to file for unemployment before you have to dip into your savings is good, in my book.
However, if it looks like they’re going to tie you to the mast as the ship sinks, feel free to jump.
I absolutely believe you when you say you’re beyond burnt out. With the Nine of Swords reversed, I think the job has been an anxiety-inducing mess that makes you feel trapped, and with the Ten of Wands, I think you’ve been shouldering this burden for a long time. And, judging by your letter, of course it does! The physical act of traveling—even for pleasure—can be exhausting, and to do that weekly, to be out of your home for weeks at a time, ruins any chance of having a routine and sense of normalcy. You don’t get to have much of a work-life balance if your life is halfway around the world.I do think you need to leave this job, but I think you can. As the Knight of Wands, I think you can take control of your life and passions and see a way through. And with that bulldozing energy of The Chariot, once you know what you want to do, you’ll plow ahead into it.
But some downtime between jobs might be what you need.
I don’t know your financial situation, what your salary or savings look like. But you mentioned this nice, part-time job you have that you could work full time but take a 75% pay cut. However… with minimum wage at $30K a year, that would put your current salary somewhere in the six figures.
And with the hardworking and financially savvy Queen of Pentacles, I do wonder if, with your part-time job and savings, you might actually be able to take some time off and rest.
It might not be possible, but if you sit down and create a workable, living budget that allows you to spend a month or two doing absolutely nothing, I encourage you to take it. I think you need to mentally and physically rest after this job before jumping into the next, and I think that time will allow you to figure out which direction you want to go in. Best of luck, my dear.
Dear Oracle,
I know this is the academic equivalent of “Should I try heroin?” but…should I go to grad school?—Early-30s Cliché
Cards: Four of Swords, Five of Wands, Queen of Cups, Ten of Pentacles (all reversed)
Dear 30s,
If I had infinite funds, I would be three grad degrees down by now and looking towards a fourth. I’ve always loved learning and grad school is just hanging out with equally obsessive nerds and talkin’ shop. It’s great if you’re following a passion of yours…
Which, I’m not sure is the case here. With the ego-removal of the Four of Swords plus the familial legacy of the Ten of Pentacles, I do wonder if this is something you are drawn to on your own or something that, perhaps, a parent may have suggested (or something you thought would impress them.)
Grad school, like parenthood, is something I think you should only go in for if you REALLY want it because it’s so fucking hard. It takes up a lot of time, and unless you are bequeathed a huge amount of no-strings funding, you usually have to balance it with working a job and having a life. Academia can be cutthroat, bureaucratic to a fault, and, the way the current administration is playing it, in grave peril. But it can also be incredibly rewarding and enriching.
If you go, you’ll experience both. The Five of Wands suggests warring all the time—either against the clock, against the program, against Sally Mae—and being reversed suggests that this struggle may plague you the entire time of your program.
But, as the Queen of Cups, you would find your work fulfilling and even fall in love with your subject deeply.
But love isn’t all we need—not for relationships, not for careers, and certainly not for grad school.
Of course, you can always apply and see how you feel if you get in, but if you’re on the fence, perhaps wait an admissions cycle and see.
I do strongly suggest you devote some time to studying your subject on your own, either with online lectures or reading theory or whatever would let you explore the subject from a different angle. That might be all you need to scratch that itch, or it might cement your decision to study in a more formal setting.
Whatever it is, you have time. (Maybe not in this country, but surely in another.)
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This article appears in Apr 17-23, 2025.