My Avocation

In the novel I talked about below, in the afterlife, everyone does a job they love. Money isn't really an issue for the dead, and the main characters seem to always have as much money as they need. Everyone works, though; each person chooses an "avocation". The main character, Liz, works with dogs (she can understand their language), and John Lennon is a gardener. An avocation is whatever they will love doing.

I often wonder how many people are doing what they would most love doing. As for me, I'm not sure what I would most love doing for work. I've done work in the past that I loved. I loved talking to people about sex but heck, I was earning $11.82 an hour. At times, I loved teaching high school, but there were a lot of things about it that weren't right for me. I loved working in a bookstore in college.

I'm looking for a new job, not because I don't like mine; it's a fun job with a lot of autonomy and I get to write, research, and do some graphic design. Sometimes I love it, but I don't LOVE it. There's a glass ceiling and I've gone as high as I can go, and that's one issue, but also, I don't LOVE my job.

Once you start looking for a new job, it's easy to get "senioritis" -- really cranky and lazy and uninspired. To stay focused, I'm doing this Pollyanna-ish thing that really works amazingly well for me; saying "I'm going to do my best today" and really doing it! I don't have to do anything perfectly; just my best. Ironically, this goody-goody stuff makes me happier at work, and it's pretty much what got me through college and what keeps me exercising.