Living the Map

You know how, when you're little, you know exactly what you want to be when you grow up? Sure that one thing might change a few times, but you always have that dream job in mind. And it's not hampered by reality in any way. If we want to do it, well, we will. We never think that we can't be an astronaut or a doctor or a millionaire. Of course, my lofty ambition used to be waitressing--and I remember how relieved I was when Mom assured me that I didn't have to go to college to be a waitress. Now I'm going to grad school, so apparently I changed my mind about school somewhere along the way.

When I graduated college, I had a clear vision of what I wanted to do. But now, I'm not so sure what my future holds. Sure, I have plenty of options. But how do you decide what's really the right fit for you, the most meaningful career choice?

One advantage we have in today's society is that we can change careers multiple times in our lives. So I can be a literary agent for now, start a non-profit someday, and have all sorts of other job opportunities in between. But not many of us get to try 50 jobs in a year...

Daniel is living the map and working his way all across the U.S. He's currently hanging out with my mom at the Fishtail General Store in Montana, and this is big news for a tiny little town. It's a crazy, adventurous, life-changing idea, and I found it rather inspiring. Not that I'm going to pick up and do the same thing, but just the idea that we really can do anything we want to with our lives, no matter how crazy our goals might seem to others. Check out Daniel's story: www.livingthemap.com

In the midst of my research on dream jobs, I happened upon this site: Vocation Vacations. How fun would that be? What a great way to test out what you think might be a dream job before you commit to it.

Oh, so many options and so little life in which to try them all...