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3 June 2002 (Monday): purpose, revisited
What is my calling?
I'm searching for the sweet spot, the center of the Venn diagram: where what I love, what I'm good at, and what needs doing intersect. All three are necessary elements; like a bar stool or a tricycle, remove any one and the whole thing gets unstable. Achieving excellence alone isn't fulfilling, but neither is slaving away for a worthy cause without a sense of being uniquely qualified for the work.
I'm beginning to wonder whether I will have to settle for instability -- whether I'll spend my life switching between careers that fulfill one or two of the requirements, but not all three. With this dream I'm pursuing now, it's certainly what I love, and I have an unusual talent for it (so I've been told). But as to whether I'll make a lasting impact, and whether advances in the arts have the kind of social significance I'm seeking, I'm not so sure.
Soren and I went to a couple of seminars and forums this past weekend, and we both walked out with that wistful tugging in our hearts back toward school. I think my field of study would be interdisciplinary: a mix of business, public policy, urban planning, environmental and civil engineering, economics, ethics and psychology. A PhD program in How To Make People Give A Shit About Saving The World. With a better acronym, hopefully.
I would have great fun studying it, and it would be incredibly rewarding work. The question is: would I be any good at it?
There is also the question of timing, parenthood being another lifelong dream of mine. Pesky ol' biological clock.
posted by enjelani @ 03:12 PM PST
Replies: 3 comments
not really related, but have fun in Denali. (you were leaving tomorrow, right?)
posted by Zach @ 03 06 2002 08:48 PM PST
Wednesday, actually. thanks :)
posted by enjelani @ 04 06 2002 08:25 AM PST
I, too, have been craving purpose lately. I can't see much purpose at all in working for an e-greeting company. Going back to school won't happen until Smoo gets old enough to not want to spend time with the big-dorky-mother-thing. Ah, well. I haven't given up. Have you been looking at http://www.idealist.org?
posted by Moonpuddle @ 05 06 2002 03:14 PM PST