“Our high school guidance counselor used to ask us what you would do if you had a million dollars and didn’t have to work. And invariably whatever you’d say, that was supposed to be your career. So, if you wanted to fix old cars you’re supposed to be an auto mechanic.”
Once again, the quotable Office Space comes to the rescue.
I’ve had quite the history of dream jobs throughout my life. As a kid I wanted to be everything from a meteorologist to an oil man to a postmaster to a shopkeeper to a miniature golf course owner. I’ve tried my whole life to figure out some sort of common thread between those childhood dreams, but I’ve never really been able to pinpoint it. There was definitely a pretty noticeable sense of entrepreneurship in those aspirations, though.
My dreams matured as I did the same. During high school I thought that being an educational technology coordinator would be a very good job to have. It’s always stayed in the back of my mind as an option, but college led me to a purer Web design track. Though I don’t think it’s my ideal job, I do enjoy it; two fairly long-term (over a year) jobs have proven that it’s something that I can do well. I’d love to do more of my own projects, too, but working a full-time Web dev job unfortunately leaves you a little sick of HTML and PHP at the end of the day.
This begs the question: what would my current dream job be? After a bunch of thought, it dawned on me that I’d love to spend my time traveling (around Maine, or maybe even farther if I could afford it) and doing photography. I want to go to places where I’ve never been. I want to show people what they might never see. I want to go to events and gatherings and shows and everything and provide some sort of record – an emotional record that portrays the feeling of the time. Above everything else I want something that I can call my own and take some pride in my work.
When’s it begin? Well, hopefully tomorrow night I’ll be able to take some photos of a play. Next month I’ll take my yearly trip to New Hampshire and back and hopefully get a pretty wide variety of shots. I’ve always found it’s helpful to diversify. Maybe this could be a hobby to which I can really connect.