What do you want to be when you grow up?
KISS Pandas
When I was in 5th grade I remember adults asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I didn’t want to be doctor, a fire fighter, or a rock star. I had just finished reading “The letters of Vincent van Gogh” Edited by Mark Roskill and was working on a big report on Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. I wanted to make art. I wanted to be an artist. I knew from my reading and from my parents that making art wasn’t going to make me rich or famous. I just wanted to make things. I would tell adults that would inquire about my future plans, that I wanted to be an artist with both my ears.
Ever since I had to leave my last position, due to health stuff, I have been trying to figure out what I want to do for a career. I have been asked multiple times, “What do I want to do?” I think that is the grown up version of the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” When I was younger I would just think about what would be fun to do 5 days a week. This time I made a list of the things that I enjoyed in my previous jobs. Here is what I came up with:
1. problem solving
2. creative thinking
3. the ability to work on projects that teach me something new
4. learning new skills
5. interacting with people
6. creating relationships with interesting people
7. contributing to an industry that I want to support
Class of 2013
Based on my resume I have experience in office admin, logistics, accounting, the marine industry, and the arts. It is harder for me to choose what industry I want to work in than the things that I want in a job. Especially when my resume is a patchwork quilt of positions, stitched together by skills and overlapping industries.
Time away from working has allowed me to knit and make things. I knit almost everyday. With the house being shown about twice a week I have been paying more attention to how many pieces I complete between each showing. I complete a piece and find a spot in the house to show the new work to the potential home buyers. It is like the little house is my own little gallery.
Hmmm…. Maybe I am what I wanted to be when I grew up, an artist with both ears.