Still here. Still trying to figure out dharma–my purpose for living. When I was a little girl, people constantly asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. My answers changed all the time. I couldn’t think of something I’d want to do forever that actually paid me well. And when I started figuring things out, reality came along with a big fat NOPE and I made myself focus on more “realistic” things.
And it’s worked out OK for me. I’ve been a secretary, a copy editor, a proofreader. I’ve worked as a receptionist, a day care provider, an editorial assistant. And besides the copy editing, there’s nothing else that’s really held my interest or passion for very long. I get these really obsessive spurts and I get soooo deeply interested in things… and then that interest kind of fizzles out.
But certain themes keep popping up in my life and I realize that I find myself going back to them over and over:
– yoga
– writing
– books
– acting
– taking photos (for fun)
– creating
– sunshine
– disney
– copy editing
– words
– literacy
– dance
– travel
Is there some way I can consolidate some or all of these things into a viable career for myself? And if so, HOW?
I operate under this belief that I am OK at a lot of things, but not spectacular at any ONE thing. I flounder because I can be hard on myself mentally. What right do I have to feel like I should be able to do work that is not only fulfilling, but that also pays me well? Why I can’t be “normal” and be OK with the commute and the office job and just working for a living like regular people. With the economy being the way it is, I should be grateful for whatever comes my way right? Even if it kills me inside…right?
But it’s so hard for me to live like that, and I don’t have to so I don’t.
I’m taking a break from acting right now for a couple of reasons. One is that Aidan is in town and I want to spend time with him. The other is that I’m really trying to think about if this is something I want to do, and if so, what am I willing to do so that I’m making a living doing so. The thing is, as much as I love acting, I don’t know if I love it enough to do all the hustling required to “make it.” Because it’s a LOT of hustle, a lot of competition, a lot of rejection, a lot of heartbreak. And I don’t know if I am equipped to handle it for something that seems so… futile. For something I’m not sure I love that much.
But writing? I’m finally comfortable in my writing skin again and it feels amazing. Not only do I get to live in my dreams, but I get to put them on paper. My dream is still to be published someday, and wildly successful. I’m glad I am finally in the space where I can chase that particular dream again.
And yet, I browse the gossip sites (guilty pleasure) and I see the paparazzi photos and I wonder what it would be like to have people wonder about me so much that these fools will hide in bushes to take photos of me. I wonder what it would be like to land a movie role and make a few million doing something that is so fulfilling. Then I wonder if what I’d have to give up for that to happen would be worth it.
I don’t know if I fit in Chicago anymore. No, that’s not true. I KNOW I don’t fit here anymore, at least not January through March/April. Especially if we get any more winters as horrible as the one we’re apparently still having. But I know that once the weather warms up, I’ll be more at home here. If only the weather would actually warm up…. HIGHER than the 50s I mean…..
And then there is this food crisis going on with me. I’ve had a complicated relationship with food and eating for at least ten years now, so it’s kind of nothing new. But it kind of is. I’m rethinking the things I am putting in my body, and I sit around feeling guilty about almost everything I ingest (unless its water or fruit).
It hasn’t completely stopped me from eating junk food or meat or processed things, mind you. But I know it’s coming… because I hate how I feel emotionally after it’s done. 🙁
Aren’t I too old to still be on this journey of self-discovery? But it’s here and I am living it. And now I’m wondering if my strong sense of wanderlust this year isn’t really some sort of tactic I’m employing to try to find myself.
I let myself get talked into another 10 week acting workshop. I start up again on May 6. I am simultaneously dreading it and looking forward to it. I don’t even know what that means. I just know this: now that my car is fixed and the weather is warming up, I have no more excuses not to audit the Monday night class and the advanced class. Then I will make decisions from there–to continue to chase this dream, or to hang it up and look elsewhere to fulfill my dharma.
Seems like I should have done this when I was a in my 20s.
I just need some direction…. some sign. Something.
Are you me? No, seriously, because I can relate to absolutely everything you’ve said here.
I think we’re never too old (apparently) to journey to self-discovery. It’s… it’s probably the journey of a lifetime.
I totally get it. I feel like I’ve been grappling with a lot of the same stuff… I fell into my career early on, and while I don’t outright hate it, I feel like there must be more to life than coding websites for companies I don’t really give a shit about, and when I look back on the majority of my twenties… I was not the adventurous type. It’s only been in the past 3 or 4 years that I’ve been begun to start to the journey of self-discovery…. Is that late? I don’t know… I think everyone gets to it at their own pace.
Wow. This seems like something I could have written myself.
I don’t think you’re too old for self discovery at all. I use to think I was a huge failure for not sticking to one thin at a time. I’d be completely interested in something then onto the next thing some time later. I often doubted myself with a lot of things. Either, I didn’t think I would be good enough or I thought I’d never get the opportunity.
The fact that you’re completely open to new things constantly is always a good thing. I think being multi-talented opens so many doors… you just have to find one that you’re excited to go through. I do believe you will find your way.