on job security and following your dream

never in a hundred years would i have thought that i would end up doing what i love as my career and my passion: writing.

okay, forget that hyperbole for a moment and ask yourself: are you happy doing what you do at your job? in all honesty, i am. i love what i do. i can deal with the occasional boredom or mind-numbing hours staring at my pc monitor, because i love what i do.

the key to self-fulfillment is the mental masturbation you do in the things you love doing best. for me, writing never gets old. it never gets boring in long stretches. writer's block -- and admittedly, burnout -- is an occupational hazard, but an extended slump doing nothing, is never an issue.

because i love to write.

what i can get into trouble with is multi-tasking. i can't blog when i am in the thick of figuring out a productivity analysis report, or an ad campaign. i can't do freelance work if the process documentation and the the policies my fellow manager requested hasn't been put to bed -- i'm one-tracked in that sense. they say a writer is only as good as his last feature article, and i'm like that: i can't attend to my personal and freelance needs if work calls sweetly and longingly.

you can even say, i'm living my dream career.

working at an office for nearly five years changes you. it makes you build friendships and bridges (and makes you realize that the bridges you've burned before can be mended with a healthy dose of humility and a lot of foot-in-mouth apologies). it enlivens you.

and when that ends, it becomes a nightmare. on a professional level, you're stumped at what to do and where to take the next step in your career. on a social level, it is a painful process of seeing friends that have become old friends, too precious to let go, and too depressing a realization that you'll never see them again to share that pre-work coffee and cigarette.

on a personal level, it is a potential quagmire -- the dread of writer's block, or worse, an extended slump of doing no writing is fast becoming a reality i may have to deal with.

my dear friend said it best when she said that she'd rather write than be promoted to a position that gives her no opportunity to write. like i, celeste is living her dream, and we will both be leaving behind fond memories of brain-wracking ad copy and countlessly-edited process documentation and operational policies. and most importantly, treasured friendships.

i've always wondered why they called it a career -- the holding of jobs in the corporate world, in the call center, in business process, or even in politics. is it because there is no guarantee of job security, only "steps to building your career?"

in closing, doing what you love is important to building your career. what counts is that wherever your feet land, wherever your career calls you to, you are living your dream.





(now, click on the "Next Blog>>" tab so i can think up what i would write about next...)