Growing beyond the computer ⚘

The below interview is the last piece for Ecologies of Entanglement, a collaborative series between Are.na Editorial and Dark Properties.

It can be hard to find a good job—especially one that aligns with your values, interests, financial needs, family obligations, and (perhaps most importantly) sense of wellbeing. To make it even trickier, most of us start out on a “career track” when we’re young and naive, before we really know what we want out of life. And this track, unfortunately, doesn’t always lead us to a happy place.

I first met Cortney Cassidy when we were both attempting to figure out how to build a post-art-school career. We became friends while interning at a tiny artist-run print shop in San Francisco, before the Silicon Valley-ification of the city, back when a broke twenty-something could still afford to live in a sprawling Mission District apartment. While navigating the aftermath of the late-aughts Great Recession, Cortney and I bonded as we stuffed envelopes full of $30 art prints, hoping like hell this unpaid work would somehow help us find our footing at the bottom of the creative-career ladder.

Since then, we’ve both come a long way. Cortney in particular has defined a pretty illustrious career as a designer working for some of the biggest companies in creative tech. But recently, after a personal epiphany about the negative effects and ethics of her computer-tethered job, she’s fully pivoted her career—and with it, her entire lifestyle.

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