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Being a millennial is hard. Being aged 18+ is even harder. When you are young you are told you can be whatever you want to be. A doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a shop assistant- whatever it is you can do it. But what about if you don’t know what you want to do or what your career should be? Cue Lisa Owens.
‘Not Working’, Owens first book, has addressed the dreaded question we all think (What the fuck am I doing with my life?) and found the answer- quit your dead end job and think about who you are, what you have, and what you want. If Claire Flannery, the loveable, if not slightly alcoholic, protagonist of the book can do it why can’t we?!
Of course Claire did have some fictional advantages to finding her desired career path.
Most importantly a savings account that could warrant her to quit her job and do nothing for 6 months, and a training neuro-surgeon for a boyfriend. We may not be so lucky with our love lives, or finances, however we can, and probably most of us do, have Claire’s fear stuck in our heads- what if my career means nothing? She is plagued by the fact that her boyfriend is saving lives every day while she can’t even make dinner every day. She feels useless and invaluable- a situation the majority of us can empathise with.
But ‘Not Woking’ is not just an exploration of physically not working career wise, but also exploring relationships that aren’t ‘working’. After ‘light-heartedly’ confessing that her
Grandad exposed himself to her at his own funeral Flannery’s family relationships slowly begin to crumble, beginning with her strongest supporter- her mother. Afterwards she begins to doubt the relationship she has with her boyfriend who is deeper into brains than her underwear. And then there are her friends- all who have amazing careers, relationships, and lives. Basically not only does her lack of career knowledge leave her unsatisfied but so do all her relationships.
And then we come to the Buddleia. The grand opening to the book which ends up holding up more than just Claire’s apartment. A stranger on the street informs her that the Buddleia is a weed that will destroy the stone of her apartment, but after researching in to it she finds that it can also be a beautiful flower which is stubborn and not easy to move. It becomes Claire’s spirit plant if you will. Despite everyone telling her to remove the plant and hurry up finding her career, she keeps it and continues on her search in her own time.
Flannery eventually amends her relationships and, although we don’t find out what it is, she does get a job that she is happy with. She must be happy if she has the energy to go running before it!
‘Not Working’ is a book to show millennials that it’s okay to not know what you’re doing. You need to work on what you have around you before you can find yourself a life changing career path. Just channel your inner Buddleia and you will be fine.