Culture

Facing the many intersections of life

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It seems about this time each year, I start reflecting on where I am, where I am going and what is the path I want to take. There are always multiple paths. Some have barriers. Some are winding. Some are littered. It seems I tend to take the littered roads. The roads that have baggage. The roads that have been trampled upon and perhaps, even gutted. Why do anything the simple way? Why indeed.

 

The intersections of life, where we need to stop and figure out which way to do, can cause some to freeze in time. I cannot stand still.

 

I attended a conference last week, where a presenter noted a few things about Generation X .  One of the items was that us Generation X people are not afraid to change careers. We won’t just leave a job. We leave whole fields behind multiple times. How cool is that? It may make us seem to a few people that we are wishy-washy. However,  to me it signals that our lives are filled with whimsy. Good whimsy, that is. Or can be.   We need to keep moving to see where we end up.

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As we move so much, it could possibly be lonely. But perhaps its better to be lonely than paired off with tedious, mean people. Just a for instance.

One of my friends recently posted on her Facebook page, the following Sondheim bit from “No One is Alone”:

“Sometimes people leave you

 halfway through the woods

Others may deceive you

You decide what’s good.

You decide alone

But no one is alone”

 

I think I understand those lyrics as I face again a new intersection.   I honestly do not know what is coming next and I am ok. I know I will have a new adventure or a series of new adventures and I will not be scared. All I know is that I will be true to myself and along the way find multiple versions of myself. Or rather, I will find multiple possible mes.  I look forward to learning more and more about myself.

 

Categories: Culture, identity, mental health, photography, Psychology, workplace

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9 replies »

  1. Great post Mimi. I’m currently at one of those intersections, and I’m not scared either. Maybe a little apprehensive, and certainly excited!

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  2. I have always liked the wisdom of Sondheim. And as an older Boomer I made dramatic changes of direction in my two careers. 1st….performing arts. 2nd……financial markets. And now, not a career but my passion in life…..riding , competing and training a horse in dressage. I think an intersection is a good thing to find in life. Therein lies opportunity.

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  4. I think it’s great to change careers multiple times. Generations past have gotten stuck in ruts, and it’s nice to see that people are finally starting to realize that we aren’t stuck in one spot. If you don’t like what you are doing, you have the ability to change. As a human being we go through many changes in our lives, and I think tying ourselves to one thing saying “this is it” is only a hindrance to our potential. You aren’t the same person you were 20, 10, or even 2 years ago, why keep doing the same things? I think its important to do things that fulfill us, even if it can be a little scary or intimidating at first. I’ve lived in the same are for all of my 28 years, and in 11 days I’m packing it all up and heading south. Sure the initial thought was scary, and I feel like I should be more scared than I am, but I’m not, because all I see is opportunity at this point. Our life expectancy is a lot longer than past generations, I feel like we need to use those extra years to our full advantage. But even though our life expectancy is longer, we could also die tomorrow, so we need to take advantage of the present just as much as the future. If something isn’t working for you, change it. Sometimes that means staying put and working on a problem, sometimes that means walking away and doing something else. I’m all for making changes and creating a fulfilling life. Good luck with your current intersections, my friend!

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