This Is What I Do...
I get asked all the time, even by close friends, what exactly it is I do for a living. Unfortunately, my job isn't one of those that can be accurately conveyed by a title, like meteorologist, repo man, doctor, or hairstylist. Everybody knows what those people do, more or less.
I'm an international trade specialist. Simply put, I work for a large Fortune 500 company, and I assist them (and many of the 600+ companies owned by my parent company) with issues relating to the import or export of goods to or from the U.S. Although I am a licensed Customs Broker, I have no special training in the area. Like most people, I took a job, and I ended up learning the trade. I didn't plan to do this. It just happened.
Although it has its moments, for the most part it's all magnificently boring. There is not a single fibre of my being that cares in any way about my occupation, beyond the fact that I need it to survive financially. When I leave at night, I absolutely never give it a second thought. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate my days at work. I'd just really rather be doing something else. Is it any wonder I often stare at my calendar (now featuring Yosemite's El Capitan and Half Dome under a blanket of light snow), and lose myself in the thought of being in those magnificent places, hiking or swimming with my friends and family?
What must it be like to have a passion for the way one earns a living? Given how NOT in-demand my real passions are, I doubt I will ever know that feeling. Which is fine, I suppose. I have plenty of passions, and nobody ever said you had to love your career, as long as you have other things that you do love, and are able to spend time with.
I've never been someone to have a plan. I don't do the heavy lifting in life. I dart. I explore. I lose time, but then I stop and look around and wonder how I got here, and where I'm going. I've never worried about my career, probably because I've never really wanted one. Somehow, despite my lack of passion for it, I have one.
When I said the smartest thing I ever did was marry my wife, I certainly wasn't joking. Without her (and Linus, and #2 on the way), I wouldn't have had anyone to feel compelled to hold a "real" job for; I doubt I would have tried to hold one for myself. I would still be darting and exploring and losing time, but at a much lower level of subsistence financially, mentally and socially. She keeps me grounded in reality and obligation, while also giving me room to roam.
Anyway, that's what I do for a living. And I don't care about it in the least. I know there are a lot of people out there who are in the very same situation.
11:38:24 AM 
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