Having been in your position in a previous recession, I can emphasize with you and your predicament.

However, the first thing to remember is that losing a job or being unemployed no longer carries the social stigma that it once did. This is about the economy, not about you. You just happened to be in the path of change and lost your job or just graduated and found yourself in a job market that had more people looking for work than there were jobs. In a way it is no different than attending a concert or other big event and catching a cold from a another person in the audience. You didn't intend to get the cold, the person who gave it to you didn't intend to give it to you and the germs didn't seek you out to punish you for something - you were just, unintentionally, in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So, it is not you. It is the economy.

One trap that many people fall into is to define themselves in terms of their job or profession. When looking at oneself from this perspective, it is easy to see how the loss of a job can result in major emotional trauma. I once read an article about a career employee at IBM (a company that used to employ people for life and encouraged them to bond closely with the company) who lost his job when the advent of personal computers all but destroyed IBMs core mainframe computer business and forced IBM to severely retrench and let go of thousands of employees. The emotional trauma for this individual was such that the only thing he could compare it to was a divorce and he later told his wife that she never had to worry about him leaving as he had already been through one divorce with IBM and he could not endure the trauma of a second one with her.

For myself, I have always looked upon a job and a career as a means of obtaining the income necessary to support my family and me. I have skills that I offer to sell to an employer and take positions with employers with the idea that I will keep the position until either I can do better for my family by going someplace else or my employer feels they would be better off without me. While money is the major factor in the choice of a job, I have always tried to seek employment doing work I enjoy and with employers where I will feel happy. However, when it comes time to leave, either voluntarily or involuntarily, what is terminated is a simple economic relationship and not an emotional bond. Ironically, even though I have never taken a job with the intent of remaining with the employer until retirement, my average time with a particular employer is much longer than average as I have done very little job hopping. Because I have always taken jobs with the attitude that they would continue only as long as the relationship was mutually beneficial, there was no emotional trauma for me during the couple of instances where the employer's needs changed and my job eliminated - the loss of the pay check was inconvenient but there was no damage to my self image.

That being said, the first thing for you to do is start to look upon yourself as a freelance professional who as a result of a business slowdown is now forced to focus on marketing your skills in order to find a new customer/employer for your skills.  Instead of looking upon yourself as being unemployed you can now visualize yourself as an independent business person in tough market that will require a full time effort to pull through.  And you should concentrate full time on finding employment and not agonizing over your job loss.  So here is a suggested plan of action to help you to keep busy, keep your spirits up and find a job.  If you lost a job and qualify for unemployment, go immediately to the unemployment office and apply for benefits.  These won't replace your lost income but will provide some cash to help you survive.  If you have bills - credit cards, loans, rent, utilities, etc. visit or call each one immediately to explain your current predicament.  Stress that it is your intention to pay these obligations in full when you can but at the moment you want to make arrangements to either temporarily suspend payments or arrange to make partial rather than full payments.  These people and companies are suffering in this economy the same as you are and, in most cases, will see themselves as being better off working with you rather than risk losing everything by having you simply default and pay nothing.  It will will also save them the time and expense of employing legal means to try to get some payments from you.    Next, check with your local Jobs Service, One Stop or other employment services generally run by your county or state government.  Most, if not all local or state governments offer these services and, depending upon the type and amount of funding available to them, they may be able to help you with a number of things.  At a minimum, most will offer lists of job openings and often assistance with resume writing and job interview techniques.  They will also often provide training and other assistance such as helping to pay for medical care, transportation, housing, etc. if you meet the requirements of their programs.  Don't expect to receive anything beyond some job leads, but also, don't hesitate to ask what other services are available and if your circumstances qualify for these services.  Keep in mind that, even if you qualify for their programs, none of these things will solve your basic problem which is the lack of a steady income.  At best, they are stop gap measures which can help you to survive during your unemployment.  However, even if you find that you don't qualify for any of them, the mere act of going out and trying, rather than sitting home and wallowing in your problems, will give you a psychological boost.  You are taking action aimed at regaining control over your life rather than remaining at the mercy of outside economic forces.    Even though you still don't have a job, taking action to improve your economic situation will put you back in the world of business and work and such action will help boost your morale.  Further you will be meeting with people, applying for benefits, interviewing and negotiating with people and thereby practicing and honing skills that you will need to employ when applying for jobs.  And don't overlook the fact that everyone you will be dealing with - bankers, landlord, social service workers, etc. - are all employed and have jobs and, as such, may know of positions that are open or may be opening soon which you could apply for.  Therefore, don't hesitate to take the opportunity to try to broaden the conversation to discussing jobs and careers.  Unless they are very busy, most people will jump at the opportunity to talk about themselves and their jobs.  Listen and learn as you will undoubtedly pick up information or leads that may be valuable immediately or some time down the line in your job search.  Most people also get satisfaction from helping other people, whether it be by referring you to a possible job opening or helping a friend or associate who is looking for an employee by referring you.    In your Hub profile  you indicate that you want to become a journalist and write for a big skateboarding magazine.  Keep in mind the fact that many jobs, besides journalism, require writing skills.  Thus, the bank employee you speak with about your loan, the rental agent you speak with about your rent, the social service worker, etc. all may know of positions that require writing skills - writing ad copy for the marketing department, writing training manuals for the training department, helping with writing grants, etc. all of which could provide you with a steady income while you continue the search for your dream job.  Make it a point to get up every week day, just as if you had a job, and actively work to get a job.  Check job postings online and/or in the newspaper and go online or mail resumes for these jobs every day.  If you have a network of friends, ex-coworkers and others who are employed, keep in touch with them for job leads.  If you don't have a network go out and meet people to start building one.    Once you have found and applied for the full time, career type jobs that are advertised each day, check for temporary and part-time jobs.  If nothing else, these will provide both income and a base from which to continue your search.  When applying for jobs, potential employers are usually more impressed with a person if they are currently working since they can get more current work references.  Also, temporary and part-time jobs can often lead to full time regular positions with many employers.  You might also consider volunteer positions that utilize your work skills.  Even though you will not get paid, such jobs will keep you active and busy and will show employers when you interview that you are continuing to practice and utilize the skills you will be putting to use on a full time job.  Occasionally these organizations will have openings for paying positions which you might be able to move into.  Finally, with temporary, part-time and volunteer jobs you will be participating in the workforce with other employees who may know of open positions or may be able to introduce you to people they know who are hiring people.    By keeping active and maintaining a positive attitude you will be able to both avoid the job loss blues and find a new job.