Passions
Note: This post is probably not going to be as interesting as its title.
One of the questions that people ask you when you're talking about your career (or lack thereof) is "what are you passionate about?" That's suppossed to be the guiding question. Find what you're passionate about and turn it into a career.
This is easier said than done. What if you're passionate about knowing song lyrics? Or ranking everything in the universe? These things CAN be translated into jobs/careers, but not as easily as if you're passionate about, say, teaching or medicine.
Anyway, I always thought the answer to the "what are you passionate about" question should be something like "preventing hunger in third world countries" or "talking with people about their problems" or some other similarly socially responsible thing. And I have my moments of passion about things like that. But lately I've been realizing that I'm passionate about words.
Just words. The order that they are placed in, their connotations, finding the perfect word(s) to say exactly what I want to say.
The reason I know this? I get really pissed if words are not used well. Today an email was sent from our company with two words that I really hated. I sent recommendations for changes, and they may have been overlooked or they may have been ignored, but the email did NOT have my changes, and I was annoyed.
Now this is silly, and there's no reason to get annoyed. If for no other reason than it's certainly not helping me. Plus there are plenty of times when I get lazy and just do whatever is adequate. And some things I'm not capable of, as much as it irks me to admit it. However, I don't get angry when people improve on what I've written. Because the writing is what's most important.
It's nice that I have a job that lets me mess with words all day. I just need to figure out how to keep my passion from shooting out my eyes and burning everyone with its white-hot fire. Channel it helpful ways, instead of letting it overwhelm me with frustration.
I'll let you know if I figure out how to do that.
One of the questions that people ask you when you're talking about your career (or lack thereof) is "what are you passionate about?" That's suppossed to be the guiding question. Find what you're passionate about and turn it into a career.
This is easier said than done. What if you're passionate about knowing song lyrics? Or ranking everything in the universe? These things CAN be translated into jobs/careers, but not as easily as if you're passionate about, say, teaching or medicine.
Anyway, I always thought the answer to the "what are you passionate about" question should be something like "preventing hunger in third world countries" or "talking with people about their problems" or some other similarly socially responsible thing. And I have my moments of passion about things like that. But lately I've been realizing that I'm passionate about words.
Just words. The order that they are placed in, their connotations, finding the perfect word(s) to say exactly what I want to say.
The reason I know this? I get really pissed if words are not used well. Today an email was sent from our company with two words that I really hated. I sent recommendations for changes, and they may have been overlooked or they may have been ignored, but the email did NOT have my changes, and I was annoyed.
Now this is silly, and there's no reason to get annoyed. If for no other reason than it's certainly not helping me. Plus there are plenty of times when I get lazy and just do whatever is adequate. And some things I'm not capable of, as much as it irks me to admit it. However, I don't get angry when people improve on what I've written. Because the writing is what's most important.
It's nice that I have a job that lets me mess with words all day. I just need to figure out how to keep my passion from shooting out my eyes and burning everyone with its white-hot fire. Channel it helpful ways, instead of letting it overwhelm me with frustration.
I'll let you know if I figure out how to do that.
Labels: Big Questions, Workin'
posted by Melanie at 11:37 PM
