‘Deciding on a career’. This is a phrase so often heard by those within my age bracket and it’s enough to send a sweat panicked chill down your spine. I may be wrong but the harsh reality is that, from what I’ve seen, all but a very small few are totally lost when it comes to having a solid idea of what they want to do for ‘the rest of their life’.
It is so hard for me to articulate my thoughts on why this is as it’s an ever-changing concept to me but I think I have an idea at least… In the time when my Nonna was my age, it seems, from what I have heard, that she chose any career she could find in order to earn money, even moving to another country to find work. Generalising of course, in my mum and dad’s generation they chose a career path that was vaguely in their field of interest and it was the lucky ones who loved what they did to earn a living. There were days when they came home thinking ‘Wow, what a great day!’ and others where they just wanted to get home and stay there forever. Nowadays though, I feel like there is this new expectation that if you come home feeling like you never want to go to work again, you are in the wrong line of work. I am comforted by the thought that a US statistic estimates that the average person tries out seven different ‘careers’ in their lifetime, but it also worries me a huge deal. Seven? I have to try out six jobs before I find the perfect seventh? And what if the seventh is the one I just decide to settle on because I’m tired of looking? I am all about doing what you love -take it from someone who chose to do a Fine Arts degree. But even whilst doing something you love, there are days that you feel like you are happy and days when you feel as if you can’t draw another sketch -take it from someone who dropped out of a Fine Arts degree…
When people heard I was doing a Fine Arts Bachelor - something so associated with passion and dreams they seemed to skip the usual ‘oh so hows that going?’ and move straight to ‘oh wow so you are really loving it?!?!’ and so instead of truthfully answering that, like with anything, there are aspects I loved and aspects I didn’t, I felt compelled to shout ‘OMG yes I love love love it !’ in order to not dampen the mood and seem down on the whole experience. I really did love it but I think it’s okay to keep some hobbies as a thing you do for enjoyment and not have to rely on them as a source of income.
I think most of us are currently living in an idealistic la la land to think we are going to find a ‘passion’ that we will wake up every morning to pursue. Sure, it should be a goal to find a job we love most of the time but I think the alternative is also okay. Work takes up a lot of your time but it is for a purpose -to earn money. What else is this money for other than to pay off things that bring you comfort or provide for a family who’s company you can enjoy when you get home or to support a hobby such as cycling or scrapbooking or model aeroplane building or expensive shoe collecting for all I care? Some people are very career driven and are made to do something they love and earn money from it but for others, I think it’s okay to keep a job as a tool used to earn money. Life is brimming with possible avenues for satisfaction and I think a lot of dissatisfaction comes from thinking that avenue has to be your career.
-B
*Mosaik does not take credit for any images used in this article
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