The only thing that is the same about me is that my situation does not stay the same.
In my lifetime I’ve been a leather crafter, aerobics instructor, funnel cake maker, hostess, waitress, student, assistant, masseuse, yogurt server, jelly maker, drive-thru runner, camera operator, photo editor, mail-order business owner, wife, newsletter publisher, day care teacher, sales rep, researcher, cable television show developer, furniture builder/finisher, mom, clerk, marketing specialist, director of new business, craft service provider, production assistant, survey creator, commercial producer, art teacher, full-time volunteer, freelance marketer, home school mom, substitute teacher, retail sales associate, hand model, calendar maker, paraprofessional, and special education teacher.
I’ve lived in two countries, seven states, attended five elementary schools, three middle schools, one high school (thanks mom), and three colleges. My husband and I have lived in five rentals and owned four houses across three of those seven states.
Even day-to-day, I find myself reinventing myself. A colleague who I saw daily commented that he never recognized me until I was close to him because as he said, “your hair’s always a different shape.” It’s true. My hair varies on a spectrum from wild frizz to straight depending on its mood, my patience, and the humidity. I run into people who I haven’t seen in a while and they ask how school is going or inquire as to the job they most recently remember me having only to learn that I’m no longer enrolled or working at whatever it was they remember me working. This often accompanied by a look of confusion as I fill them in on my latest venture.
Why so much change? I really don’t know. Maybe, it’s that I spent the first thirteen years of my life as a military brat where the only guarantee was that you would be moving. Change is my habit. Really, I believe it’s because through of all these various places and positions, I haven’t found the right fit. Change is my necessity. Whatever the reason, change happens and in my life it happens often.
Like you I have moved around a lot. Born in Ireland I have been moving back and forth between there and Australia all of my life. Mostly because my Mother was never quite satisfied with either places. I have attended 3 high schools, one of which was in Denmark, when I was on student exchange. So change is also something fundamental to my life, and I think it's a wonderful thing to centre your life around because one of the only things you can be certain about is that things change, and as I can see from your list of occupations you get a far more diverse view of life. This being said I think there has been one constant in my life, and that is my desire to create in response to environment I am in. Is this true for you as well? I think it might have something to do with all the changes that I go though, this overwhelming desire to create art.
ReplyDeleteAaron,
ReplyDeleteThe desire to create is very strong in me, as well. I'm starting to believe that some of the change, at least career wise, is due to choosing occupations that don't feed my spirit. I hope to move forward and be more in tune with what my soul needs instead of looking at the paycheck or what is most convenient to my life at the moment. I hope you'll listen to your soul and give yourself permission to do what is most true to you. Thanks for sharing.