I recently found myself at a cocktail party, complete with blue cheese on figs and sliced anjous. Joe Six-Packs, there were none. This was a soiree in the hoity-toityest of senses.
I knew the hostess but had never met the guests. And like any social function filled with the prospect of awkward conversations, the talk inevitably turns to our jobs.
I have my standard reply to the dreaded question, “and what do you do?” It makes light of my misery without forcing me to tears. “Well, it’s not exactly my dream job, but we all have to eat!” Ba-dum-bum.
As I worked my way across the room, talking of wine and gouda and jobs, there was a peculiar similarity among my companions. When they talked about their jobs, there was no eye twitching, not a single cringe or shudder to be seen. In fact, quite a few of them actually smiled. During a conversation, a woman talked about her recent trip to Panama. “It was for business” she said. “But work’s like a vacation anyway.”
WHAH?!?!
It was at that moment that I realized where I was. Like Dian Fossey stumbling out of the fog and butt-up against a gorilla, I was amongst the elusive creatures whose existence fills my dreams. These were the people who like their jobs.
I knew this was my chance to discover their secret, and follow their paths to my own professional utopia. So I studied their habits and copied their mannerisms and tried to find that one nugget of information that would guide me in my quest. And in the end, I could find anything. Their stories were all so different: fashion designers, teachers, set decorators and architects, from college drop outs to graduate school.
But if there were any common threads or pearls of wisdom, it was that they knew what made them happy and made a conscious decision to turn that love into a career. Whether it was working with kids or with their hands, none were tied to a desk all day, or stuck in regimented schedules. Theirs were professions that honored the results over the process. It didn’t matter what time they showed up for work, as long as the job got done. Design a beautiful single-family home or teach a deaf five-year-old her ABCs. They had the autonomy to do what they needed to do, and the respect from their peers to get it done right.
I envy these life forms, but I can learn from them as well. Having the clarity of mind to understand yourself and the flexibility to do what you love on your own terms. Those are the stuff that wonderful careers are made of.
