Reddit mentions of The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World without Losing Your Way

For the McJobs career depression and rage, I found two books helpful. The Murdering of My Years by anarchist Mickey Z will show you that you are not alone. The Lifelong Activist will give you some direction and focus, especially if you are willing to compromise a bit.

Also, an open minded liberal therapist can go a long way. If you are worried about privacy (pdf), ask them to not use any written notes, watch your words and only open up to them 85%. If you can't afford therapy, read the Lifelong Activist and give it a few years. What ever you end up doing, take care of yourself.

> Grad school is not a place to jump ship and figure things out. It's expensive, and may not be worth your time.

This, a thousand times! Don't use grad school as a solution to a "my life sucks, I'm working 80 hours/week for no money" hair-on-fire crisis. Grad school in the US is pretty much the most EXPENSIVE possible way that you could solve such a crisis, and it's not even a guaranteed solution! As for the expense, you have to factor in not only the tuition and books but also the opportunity cost (i.e. the salary you miss out on because instead of having a job, you're in school). If tuition and books is $25,000 and your current salary is $30,000, then a two-year masters is actually costing you $55,000/year, for a total of $110,000.

OP, how about you take all the free time that you would have to spend on getting into grad school (deciding on a degree, researching schools, studying for the GRE, writing essays for your applications, etc.) and instead spend it getting yourself a job with a more normal schedule? Research possible jobs and employers, get help with your resume, practice your interview skills, apply and go to interviews, etc. etc.

Then start your new job. When things settle down a few months in, i.e. after you've gotten the hang of it and have adjusted to your new, more reasonable schedule, then start soul-searching again.

Read this book (best career book I've ever read, and I've read a ton of them): https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124

Read this book (best book for those in nonprofit/save the world and/or arts jobs): https://www.amazon.com/Lifelong-Activist-Change-without-Losing/dp/1590560906/

With a better job, you would have time to read those books. To figure out what you really want to do in life. To figure out what the best path to that goal is. And it would NOT cost you $110,000. It would cost you $0. It might even pay YOU, if you happen to find a job with a higher salary or better benefits than what you're getting now.

So first things first: find a way to take your time figuring out what you want to do with your life. If your everyday life isn't an unmanageable crisis anymore, because you have a more normal job and therefore reasonable amount of time to sleep and eat and have a life, then you can take your time to really figure out what you want and what's the best way you can serve.