I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that. ~Lloyd Dobler (played by John Cusack) in Say Anything
Someone brought up this quote yesterday and it made me think.
Instead of thinking of all the things I don't want to do, my mind has been filled with all the things I dream of doing. My ideas are as vague as Lloyd's, but I'm trying to hone them.
I know some people cringe and reach for the hand sanitizer at the thought of spending hours at Goodwill, but nothing thrills me more than digging through other peoples' junk and finding buried treasure. Maybe, as-is, the item is no charmer, but with a fresh coat of paint, some new fabric and a staple gun, the item could come straight from an Anthropologie catalog.
One of my favorite shows on HGTV is FreeStyle. The designs on the show are hit-or-miss, but the concept speaks to me. When you live among your own things for so long, you start seeing them in only one way (this happens all the time to me in my own house). But bring in fresh eyes, and your whole room/house could be entirely reimagined just by mixing up what you already have.
This concept is also true in fashion. You buy a top and you love it. It looks great with your favorite jeans, so that's how you wear it. You loan the top to a friend who wears it an entirely different way...suddenly you realize all the possibilites the top has and it took your friend's fresh take on the item for you to realize it. There is a company called White-Starr Aesthetic Counseling, and they are basically closet organizers times infinity. They have you try on all your clothes and they help you evaluate everything. Haven't worn those pants in 10 years? See ya! The color and fit of that dress are fantastic but it's a bit too long for your height--so get it hemmed three inches! After they've helped you wade through your wardrobe to find all its potential, they take you shopping to help you find classic pieces that you can wear for years. They're like your own personal Clinton & Stacy, without all the TLC cheesiness. (Caveat emptor:Their time and the clothing they pick out is not cheap...not ideal for the average twenty-something.)
What I love to do is a hybrid of all these things. I love facing the challenge of a limited budget and exploring all the possibilities that are so often overlooked. Maybe digging through the thrift store rubble is my way of compensating for never becoming my childhood dream--an archaeologist. And maybe stretching a budget is my way of compensating for my parents' dream for me--being good at math. Either way, just thinking about these things thrills me to the bones, and I'd love to tumble all these things into a career.
Eeep...this was like a really long, rambling cover letter to apply for a job that doesn't exist.
Does anyone else have ramshackle dreams that you've woven or want to weave into a creative career? Does it happen? Can it happen? Can it happen without having to pay to go to design school? Sigh...
2 comments:
I want to be a fitness teacher for adults, but based more on kids activities. Like have obstacle course day, kickball day, playing games for fitness ya know? Like adult rec stuff, but less serious than that softball league Han and I played in once.
I also want to make and sell art and other creations. how am I gonna fit that in with fitness??
Oh yeah, and I also want to work for the food network. and somehow get paid to visit every continent.
I think that your jobs perfectly sum up a bunch of aspects of your personality. A mixture of all these things would be PERFECT for you.
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