Google showed me as a “self-employed composer.”
That is technically functional but fundamentally wrong. So, I traced it back to the source: LinkedIn. That platform where everyone begins posts with rocket emojis and their career trajectories pretend to make sense.
LinkedIn wanted me to pick: full-time, part-time, employed, or self-employed?
The platform already had my education and my past industry positions that look unconnected and strange to anyone seeking a narrative arc—it would look like someone threw darts at a career board blindfolded
I went to LinkedIn to remove “self-employment”
“Tell me your employment status,” LinkedIn insisted.
But I am not employed. I am not self-employed. I am not a composer who builds. I am not a builder who composes. I am someone who sees foam pyramids everywhere and occasionally makes things that don’t lie.
The platform wanted me to network. To connect. To build my professional brand.
But I was already connected—to the earth I compress, to the harmonic series I follow, to readers who don’t need algorithms to find me. My “network” includes structural engineers who trust my density calculations and musicians who understand why I ruthlessly kill darlings in my Chaconne’s second act.
So, I deleted it.
Not dramatically. Not as protest. Simply as precision. Then I recreated an empty profile as a placeholder to show that parking slot is reserved for someone who just sold their car.
Google will update eventually.
LinkedIn asked what I do.
I deleted the question.
That’s the most honest answer I could give.
P.S. - If you found this without LinkedIn suggesting we connect, you’re already outside their pyramid. The air’s clearer here, even if we’re all still pretending it means something.