It's Spring Again
Thu., June 1, 05:12 PM
You may have noticed, I start looking for spring, um, sometime in February. I start by watching for the sun to get up before I do, and I work from there. Sometimes it’s the little things: being able to do the laundry without a hat, going out for the newspaper with just a sweater. When will it be warm enought to run the dehumidifier in the cellar? I look for the blossoms and new leaves on the trees, and I wait for the fleeting fragrance of the brambles.
Brambles? Weeds? It depends on where they are. In my father’s garden, where they were trimmed and controlled, they were wild roses. In my yard, where Husband let them spread so there’d be less lawn to mow, they’re brambles.
By May we’re looking at graduations and commencement speakers. I always find that interesting. Who’s being honored? (Or how hard was it to find a famous speaker?) And what do they have to tell the graduates? New grads can be so intense. You know, “here I am, World, I’ve learned my ABC’s.” And the World says, “okay, Kid, we’ll teach you the rest of the alphabet.”
I heard several quotes in that vein, reminding graduates that, though you’ve built a foundation with your education now, you will learn a lot more from the world you live in. But what I heard more than anything else was, don’t choose a career simply because it pays well. Rather, you should find something you really love to do and then figure out how to get paid for doing it.
At first glance, that seems like a good idea. I would even say that it describes what I did for most of my life. After all, if you love to read and learn, heavy typing – as a secretary does – is a great way to do it. Certainly, doing what you love is a great beginning…but I think it is really self-limiting. How about loving what you do?
I was still in my teens when I developed what I thought was a brilliant, original plan: whatever job you have to do, try to find a way to like it. (Even housework.) Over the years I was pleasantly surprised by what I could do quite happily. I went into a couple of temporary assignments that turned out to be more wonderful than I could have imagined. On the other side of the picture, I tried several jobs I thought I would love, only to discover that I really hated them.
There’s always something you never thought of until you encountered it. I always thought I would love working for a doctor, helping patients and using my knowledge of science and medicine. I had a hard enough time being tactful with patients, especially when they were really sick, but dealing with medical insurers was one of the most hateful jobs I ever did. They made me feel unclean.
So what would I tell these kids? (Like someone is really asking me. Ahem.) Be aware of the way the world is, that you will have to spend a large portion of your life working for a living. Look for the fun part of all of it. (Because there usually is some.) Above all, be open to all the possibilities in front of you. If you can’t do in the spring, you may never do it at all.
