Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
I guess my view now is that we are socialized to believe that the "good life" is a good career, some fancy toys, a nice house, car, a trophy wife, a dog and 1.5 kids. To that end you see almost everybody in University trying to get an education in order to secure a job. Having had a career type job I know that it is not all that we are led to believe. Sounds like you are starting to realize that. Unless your interests happen to coincide with your job, I think its hard to most of us to say that our career fulfills us. I think for most of us it is our relationships that fulfill us. I think some get great fulfillment out of their jobs but I think those who do have jobs where they help people or create things. Teachers, doctors, counselors, as examples of helpers. Artists of all sorts as creators. Some people want to change the world, some people are content helping a single person. I think the commonality there is that a lot of us want to make some sort of tangible difference in the world, something more than just existing as a small cog in the great capitalist machine that just keeps chugging along. It doesn't help that we are often identified as our function in society, as our job.
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Wow, you hit the nail right on the head there FDW. Pretty much most of what I was contemplating. I think back to when I started university, when I asked why I went to university to study what I was studying, I remember sort of laughing and saying "Cause thats what you're supposed to do (re: university), and my dad told me to go into this."
Definitely, the sterotypical middle class (a house in the suburbs, 1.5 kids, a nice car and some toys) scares the crap out of me. I always saw myself as somewhat ambitious and working to much bigger goals, but I got burned a couple times sacrificing personal relationships for career objectives. Not nessasarly a big sacrifice, but a little bit here, a little bit there, and sooner or later, I ended up making a bit of a mess and a lot of things I regret. So, I'm not hoping not to make my career #1 and I would very much like to have find a great girl to marry as I stated above. (obviously not now, but when I'm older)
What interests me isn't really what I really see as a viable career options. There are a lot of things that interest me, but none of them that I really have a huge huge passion for and nothing that I really see as fitting me in terms of my personality and my motivations to do work (i.e. what motivates me to do what I want to do). Its funny that a few years ago, it felt like the world was in my hands and everything was new and exciting, and now everything seems perfectly attainable and understandable... and I honestly wish it didn't seem so easy. (Thats not to say every profession or study is easy, but moreso, I just don't get the "wow" out of things that used to excite me, learning about something cutting edge or unique, but more of a "ah ok, I can see how that works.)
My current degree/education - it isn't something I hate, and it is something I enjoy, but I don't know if its something I would say I "LOVE TO DO" ... but as far as how much I enjoy it, probably just as much as anything else I can think of that you can study in university...
When I was younger (i.e. before university) I did a lot of music... lessons, band, etc... I loved it then... last week when meeting friends, one asked me to go to the symphony and I declined. I flat out just said I'm not interested in that kind it. I played drums for quite a few years, and my drum set is now just sitting in my basement collecting dust and I'm about it sell it. I played a few other instruments for quite a few years and actually got to a teaching certificate in a few, but now I don't even play unless asked. I was interested then, I'm just not interested anymore.
There's only one thing that really excites me, and its the one thing I know I can't do - a professional soccer player making the big bucks and living the Ovechkin life. I may have an opportunity soon to play for a pro league coming up, but its going to be like ECHL comparable or lower, so nothing special.
One thing I also talked about with my undergrad friends was to look at things in terms of what you are working towards: money, power, helping people, interest in career and so on. Would I rather use a more social job, a hands on job, a office job... I did know at sometime that I wanted a position where I had would influence a lot of people... I'm not sure if that is exactly the biggest objective at the moment though, but something I would look for in this mysterious black box career I work towards.
Interesting about the philosophy study... to study something that you almost struggle with. To me though, I see a separation between interests in learning something in university, and a career. Something I realized in my last year of undergrad and led to a somewhat paradigm shift in career.
For now, given my education and so on, I'll probably be what you described (house, family routine, one-upmanship of new fancy toys), and to me, thats scary.