I’ve been struggling with something. The more I try to work it out by myself, the more rationalizing I end up doing, which is one of the least effective ways to work through a struggle. Comments to this post are welcomed and appreciated.
I didn’t always think I’d end up a writer, but I always thought I’d end up following my dream.
In middle school it was sports. In 9th and 10th it was theater arts. In 11th and 12th it was journalism. In college it was helping. And now more than anything I know it’s writing.
Whatever it ended up being, I always knew I’d be proud of myself because I’d be doing “my thing.”
I always pictured myself in a mediocre apartment with no air conditioning sometimes eating cereal for dinner … but loving every second of it. Because I was doing “my thing.”
And now, for a few years, I probably won’t be doing “my thing.” And it’s killing me.
But I can’t live at home anymore. My life is in a city. It’s time.
I don’t want to introduce myself to people as an employee at a company I know nothing about and for which I have very little interest.
Any advice for me?
It’s so hard to be this ( ) close to your dream job and have it taken away from you. It’s all I can think about. I’ve told myself that moving out and having a salary and health insurance and paying my bills is finally starting to outweigh “my thing,” but I’m really not so sure. Help?
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Haha kidding. [Sorta.] I'm still trying to figure out what to do with myself post-consulting. And figure out what "my thing" is.
I do know that being self sufficient is always good. As is insurance. And as long as the "in between" job doesn't kill you...feeling really grown up is sort of a different dream you will be able to realize.
All I know is I used to make a lot of money. Now I don't. Twice in the past week I had friends tell me I seem so happy...I think part of that is I now have time to pursue my passions. IF you are able to pursue your passions while having the other job..it sounds like a good move until your job becomes your thing.
Well I'd like to remind you for the 23472nd time that you thought this most recent internship of yours wasn't your thing. And now it is.
So the lessons we can learn from this is:
1. Keep your mind open for what is and isn't cool
2. Your thing will be what you DO for ALTA, not the thing their general organization does
3. Your thing could be living in the city
Don't be disappointed. Know that you're doing good things and growing and you and your thing will be an asset to any organization.
What you do doesn't make you who you are. In fact, I would assume that writing is one of the best things to do in your spare time.
Hello, I'm Heart and I'm a writer. But, I also do thing land title thing, but it is mostly to afford luxuries like....food...and electricity.
Music was "my thing" for the longest. I received my bachelors degree in music education and went off to NC to teach music to little ones. Two years later I realized it absolutely wasn't my thing. I quit, moved back in with my parents and got a masters degree in mass communication. I feel now like I'm doing my thing. I love it.
I think your "thing" will continue to change you just have to be flexible to let it happen.
But I know for me that a paycheck and benefits are a must-have. I know a lot of folks who aren't like me. You just need to go for it, whatever "it" is.
Adam definitely hit the nail on the head, what you do doesn't have to define who you are.
I'm learning that more and more every day and I'm so thankful for it. Think about it, if you have a less than stellar day in the office, does that mean that you are a less than stellar individual? Heck no! And of course, we all want to have awesome jobs that make us feel alive, and really, I believe we will someday, but first and second jobs (as we're all learning) aren't meant for that. We learn, we grown, we move on, move up or move out. It's hard to separate the two, especially with all the stuff we're spoon-fed: "follow your dreams" "study hard and you'll achieve" "you can be anything you want to be!" blah blah blah.
The best advice I think I can give is to keep your head above water. Leave work stuff at work and be intentional about not letting your career define (or rather, limit) who you are.
Keep rocking it. <3
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