23 replies to this topic

[apstrougo]

how far away is your 'day job' from what you really want to do?  
Mine's supposed to be creative but lately it just sucks my time and energy away from what I'd rather be doing.

And if you're already doing your dream job, I guess you can say something too

[fatguyaz]

is anyone really doing their dream job?

Tommy Lee isn't reading this, is he?

[jeremx]

i'm typing this while sitting in a cubicle. use your imagination.

my side business is semi/sorta related to what i think i'd really like to be doing. i'm gonna try and steer it that way a bit more as well.

[joe.distort]

i run a neurology practice. its not even close to what i want to do, but i enjoy doing it. i make a difference in the day to day life of people, a lot of whom dont really have anyone looking out for them. its a good feeling (except when it comes to discussing money with my actual boss. doctors are notoriously difficult and for such smart people they frequently dont understand things like 'you worked two weeks last month. thats why our revenue is down by 50%'. still this one is the best i have ever worked for. she is like a crazy girlfriend who gets MAD worked up. then i talk her down and she buys me lunch. or gives me money. or gives me a timeshare in vegas for a week?! its frustrating, but hey at least i dont work for people that are just greedy dickheads anymore. trust me, most doctors are actually WORSE than you think. this one and i get along/butt heads because we are very similar. so half the time its great, half the time its confusing.)

what i ACTUALLY want to do? i used to want to write, but i stopped enjoying the act of writing. now the only thing i truly enjoy doing that could actually be considered a viable career is to open a small sandwich/iced tea shop. im thinking tiny menu (like 7 items) and a variety of fresh teas that changes every day. liz and i are looking to do this within the next 6 or so years. ive been reading up on stuff lately and developing a plan. fingers crossed!

[Ninjaneer]

My dream job is to get paid to listen to music and talk about it with other people. But that job doesn't really exist. My day job is as a bioinformatic scientist.

[Syeed]

I cash checks. At night. That ain't got shit to do with anything I want to do. Mind you, at four in the morning, it affords me plenty of time to sing as loud as I bloody can with no one to bother me, which is great, but imagine getting halfway through a belt and someone walks in looking for a got damn title loan.

[fatguyaz]

My dream job is to get paid to listen to music and talk about it with other people. But that job doesn't really exist. My day job is as a bioinformatic scientist.

It's called 'Music Critic'.

[Jacki O.]

i do forensic animation as a job which is not what i would love to do (i would love to travel around the world and make art for galleries and museums and fuck hot foreign dudes and live in Rome)

but i am working towards doing what i would love to do. right now my job is quite lovely and pays me well so i dont mind doing it, and actually, thinking of the day when i could quit and work on my own is a little scary...i've been doing this job for over 6 years now...but i guess i'll cross that bridge when i get there.

[Katie]

I work in online bill pay for 4 years now, I want to work at a bike shop, blast my music and stay in a workshop all day

[apstrougo]

if being an architect was everything people imagine it to be, then I would be closer - but working in a firm is a little soul-sucking.

Even if it was perfect, I feel like that would only make half of me happy - I think I need to be sitting in a studio working on music or film to make the other half happy.

And then living in a cabin forsaking all of the modern conveniences that make the other two possible for my third half. Yes, a third half.

[Tony]

back in the day i used to hate my job and all i could think about was how to get out of it and find something i actually want to do with my life. i was in a cubicle all day doing meaningless work for a company that literally wouldn't have noticed if i didn't show up for a week.

now i work for a smaller company in a totally different environment and i love it. is it an industry that gives me a boner? no. not at all. but i'm way less likely to kill somebody in my current state. i think the quality of your environment and your boss is as important (if not more important) than your line of work. if i had to choose between "dream industry with maniac dickhead boss and crappy environment" or "ho-hum industry with awesome boss and environment" i'm picking ho-hum.

[raubhimself]

I was working for 3 years as a web developer. I didn't really like it and then I got laid off. Now I don't know what I want to/should do. That's a big reason I've been unemployed for 9 months.

[Ninjaneer]

It's called 'Music Critic'.

I'm too nice for that job.

[weener]

I work in the teen center of the library downtown. It's pretty fun. I get to do programs, crafts, video games, music stuff, etc. with the kids, as well as sit at the desk and help people find books or help kids with their homework and stuff. How far off is it from what I really want to do? Well, not too far, for now anyway. It varies based on what is bugging me.

If I'm not feeling stimulated, I get kinda itchy to get some science degree and be one of those people on RadioLab that talks about something amazing they discovered.

If the bureaucracy is bugging me, I'll wish I could stay home and make art and music all day.

If the kids are giving me a hard time, I'll wish I could get a job in processing or cataloging or something.

If I'm feeling shorted money-wise, I'll wish I had a full-time job anywhere.

[jeremx]

there's about 17 things i'd want to do as a dream job. they're all mostly pretty different from one another. and in any given week i want to do one more than the others but they rotate and the "how am i gonna pay my bills" thing comes into play. i always thought i'd want to record bands or do live music but then i realized i didn't want to spend my life in a dark studio being told that my mix was off. i need sunlight! then i thought i'd enjoy managing bands or tour managing and realized that i didn't want to spend half my life in a van and crappy hotels. then i thought i'd want to run a music venue and realized what a dead end proposition that tends to be as you can't please everyone all of the time and there's a shit ton of red tape and ways you can fall on your face. i've been involved to some extent in those last three so i got a taste of what it'd likely involve and while it might be a dream for other people, i realized it wasn't for me. i didn't want something i loved to actually feel like a job.. and those things eventually did.

in the end, i over think it. i always think that nothing i could do would be a big enough deal. that everything had been done before. that what if i cure cancer..? well, something else will just take it's place and i'll be forgotten anyway. so at 35 i think i've held off doing something i really love because it's not "important" enough. it's not going to change any lives. and i think i'm starting to understand that i don't have to. as much as i'd like to.. i don't have to. it's depressing in a way, but it's also a bit liberating. i can stop having this high and mighty attitude in the back of my mind and stop hating myself for not being some big deal and just be happy with where i'm at and what i'm doing as long as i know i'm working towards something i know will make me just that little bit more happier each day.

as lame as this probably sounds, i think i'd really enjoy being an event planner. hell, even if it was weddings or something (excluding millionaire sweet 16 parties). life is all about experiences and if you can make someone's event a huge deal that they'll remember for the rest of their lives, then that lives on. i think i'd like to be a part of that. especially if i can tie it in and mix it up with a bit of music, a bit of education, and a bit of charity. that story about that handicapped kid in seattle who had his wish come true when the make a wish foundation got together with the local power company and created this entire day where he got to be a super hero and save the city. holy shit! being involved with something like that and making someone's life better would rule so hard. there was a time when i'd think, "well, that won't make me rich and famous." but i'd like to think that i'm finally outgrowing that "gimme the mtv life" mindset.

in the meantime, i don't hate my current day job. i don't hate getting up in the mornings. and i've had jobs where that was definitely the case. tony's right, your environment and the people around you make all the difference.

*i also think i could be ultimately happy as a professional whistler or sunflower seed eater.

/novel