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The Pursuit of Happiness in a FunEmployment World (REDUX)
The pursuit of happiness is inextricably wrapped up in the inevitable that sometimes you will fail in your pursuit. The pursuit of happiness often comes with great sadness and obstacles you encounter trying to attain your dream.
Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of April 7, 2024
I remember being so happy when the Oklahoma City bombing happened. Finally, something on the news that wasn’t OJ. I’ve been chasing that high ever since.
Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of June 23, 2019
Phrases like “not to mention” and “ who needs no introduction” written or said leading into an introduction are completely false statements and make no sense in any context they’re used. They should be removed from our language patterns completely. It goes without saying that these phrases and others should not be used ever again.
The Pursuit of Happiness in a FunEmployment World
The pursuit of happiness is inextricably wrapped up in the inevitable that sometimes you will fail in your pursuit. The pursuit of happiness often comes with great sadness and obstacles you encounter trying to attain your dream. But as Americans, we are at least given the hope that we can pursue something resembling happiness. It is so engrained in the fabric of our country that we mostly take for granted our freedom to make these choices.
Starting Over... And Over Again
“So. You were a teacher in the public schools for eight years. Then you were the Executive Director of a non-profit theater?”
“Yeah.”
“And most recently you spent - what - 18 months working retail in a tobacconist?”
Ouch. As he listed my resume, it did look like a downward spiral. He didn’t care that the tobacco retail gig and the facilities manager job for a Lincoln Park massage school were part of a compromise between my wife and I at the time. I mean, I could explain that she and I decided each to take a year to just be artists while the other worked whatever job he or she could find and then we’d switch. But this was public radio. My vast experience with cleaning the glass on the humidors and restocking cigars was probably not going to play big on my hiring prospects.
Working On the Job
“All professional men are handicapped by not being allowed to ignore things which are useless.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
During freshmen orientation in college, our group of about 20 was asked what our career goals were. My initial major was hotel/restaurant management. The answers provided by everyone in that small lecture hall were strikingly similar. “I want to open my own chain of hotels. And be really wealthy.” I want to own an international chain of successful restaurants and be rich.” “I want to make a lot of money.” “Riches." "Nice cars." "Big houses." "Tax breaks.”
I was the last person to go. “Being rich would be nice. But as long as I have enough money to afford a few bowls of Cocoa Puffs each day, I’ll be happy.” It got a laugh. And that’s why I said it. I also wanted to depart from the apparent theme of money. And at the time, I meant what I said. But holy god was I wrong. Well, half of what I said was wrong. Following a change in major to journalism and with the benefit of two decades’ worth of hindsight, I certainly need more than a few bowls of Cocoa Puffs to be happy. But I was right in that money wasn’t the only driver for me.