WORK, NECESSITY. DESIRE, LIFE IS SHORT ETC

I really, really liked working. I was lucky because I was able to take on a lot of responsibility right out of college, and then lots of things happened just right and I was able to start my own agency from scratch. This was a TON of work, I mean a TON, but it was incredibly satisfying when it was up and running. And I am still in touch with people who tell me how much I changed their lives, and how much they miss me. That kind of thing on a daily basis was awfully nice.

That drama, though -- the finding homes for the homeless, the finding jobs for the jobless, etc. -- had definite downsides, too. The stress was immense. If I didn't come through with a miracle, my client would have to stay with her 3 children at a very unsavory homeless shelter, or worse. If my client didn't find a job by June, her Department of Rehab case would be closed and she'd lose vital benefits. The stakes were HIGH.

Now, I don't think I'd honestly prefer to be doing anything but what I am doing -- staying at home to raise my daughter. I saved a lot of money to be able to do it, but am still feeling pooooooooooooor (made almost all of my Christmas presents this year) (Oh that reminds me again I planned to post them), but it's really really really worth it. Everything that is stressful about it is part and parcel of what's wonderful about it -- I sometimes wish I had more time to myself, but I love being with my daughter and seeing how much she enjoys being with me.

Hello, Babs!
I'm in a bit of a rush today, but will poste a response soon.
In the meantime, you might be interested in some A2K-ers thoughts on work alternatives on this thread:

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2883&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

(Deep breath) I help manage a hardware store in Manhattan, answering two to three hundred questions a day ranging from the easy (How do I hang a 50 pound mirror on a plaster wall?) to the complex (What are the steps in refinishing a desk that has been painted?) to the confusing ( Is it still too late to return this heater?)

It's rewarding for me in that I hear back from many people that the glue worked or the pot rack is up, level and secure. These are tiny victories in people's lives and I love hearing about them, they buoy my spirit. This is a busy city and, though it drives the owner crazy, I love to listen to people tell about what is challenging them today. How they are coping, how they are growing.

What I would like to be doing is what I came to the city to do, write. I would like not to have to go to a job but merely float about the city, absorbing the energy, and write about that or whatever comes when I rest my fingers on this keyboard.
Next year, on my birthday............................

Joe

Babs, interesting subject--I'll try to check in tomorrow night, I don't have time right now. Like you, I tend to change with my mood.

Babs, fascinating topic!

I always wanted to be a nurse, since a wee child. I had it all planned, when I was 14 I was to go to England to study, then I would graduate, work in a romantic hospital where all the nurses and doctors were good-looking!

Well, that never happened:) I think in retrospect, that's a good thing. I worked in Ireland until coming out to the USA, Boston, to be exact, where my first job was with an insurance company. I didn't find that gratifying at all, but I did meet a lot of great people and learned a lot.

After two years I moved to New York, where I worked in an office on the 18th floor of the Empire State Building. This was an exciting job, working in the Empire State Building was exciting, again learning a lot but eventually moved on.

I then married and had my two girls, was a stay-at-home mom until the kids went to school and got situated.

I went to work again, but still dissatisfied with the jobs I took on. I remained fascinated with the medical field, but never pursued a career in that field.

It was not until 13 years ago that I landed in my dream job, which is where I remain to this day.

I am working in the medical field, an orthopaedic clinic with 4 surgeons. I am not a nurse and now I know I would not have been happy being a nurse or working that closely with doctors. My job entails surgery scheduling, coding and charges, precert, and lots of communication between patients and doctors.

I love my job because it's never boring, or dreary, we're always learning and the hectic pace keeps us on our toes.

Oh Soz - you sound so very like me... a billlion
things going at once, I was a pharmacy manager
in a WalMart(of all things)but I did enjoy the easy
questions - can I take this cold medicine with my
other meds - or as Joe mentioned -the hard ones,
such as returns, this is a very sticky topic in
prescription meds. Once they have left the store,
they could have been tampered with, so IF we ever
gave a refund, it was only based on if the physician
made an error, or WE made an error - tho on my
watch - those serious things simply didn't happen.
Then our pharmacy would have to eat the loss.
I got to know some patients so well, as they lived
through the death of a loved one - they would always
call and let me know when they died. I think they
knew I really DID care.
SOZ - I SAW the avatar you use in a Cracker Barrel
Store - on some product from the old days when
women working during WWII things or something,
isn't it? I turned to my friend and said - look, there
is Sozobe's picture. She must have thought I'm nuts.
Today, I just finished reading John Irving's memoir
sort of, it's called The Imaginary Girlfriend, and I think
of how many of his books I have enjoyed so completely,
even the one about the movie business, and today I
wish I were a writer, instead of a pharmacist. Wonder
what I'll feel like tomorrow

Yeah Misti - it IS the being so busy - constantly
that takes my mind far, far away from whatever
petty things are going on inside my head.
Funny as it seems, I never had any intentions
of being anything - other than a mother, a mom
have a house of my own, children to love...
to make up for what I didn't get as a child.
I never had a passion for a medical field, except
perhaps psychiatry and boy am I ever glad I
gave up the notion about that. I do a fair
job as an amateur analyzing my own dreams.
My psychiatrist spends maybe 15 min. with me,
it is merely a medication check. We barely get
to know each other. I had much greater chance
to be helpful, counseling others about what
medicines are OK with their diabetes or glaucoma
or asthma. And anxious Dads who don't know how
much Tylenol to give an infant
I DID actually learn to love mathmatics and
chemistry, while in the beginning - I would
have never EVER believed I could even do it!!
It is so abstract but so exacting, & understanding
the nature of what our world is made of: masses
of whirling electrons whirling about a nucleus,
like studying how what appears solid is in motion.
But, during the years I was going to school at
a local community college - pharmacy just looked
like exactly what I needed at that time, and I
guess it was, it DID enable me to get off welfare
never have to depend on a husband again to take
care of my 3 girls. My daughters are still the loves
of my life, even though at times you would never
guess it. Nowadays when I do personality tests -
they all say that I am either a "word warrior" or
a poet or some such thing. A poet - sort of a lost
field, but not really, it is just one that I pay little
attention to, although I used to write scads of it
as a child, and an adolescent.
Next stop - perhaps a poet.

Oh Joe, I just KNOW that you are so much a fixture
in so many people's lives, and you know it too.
Oddly enough as I was reading John Irving's The
Imaginary Girlfriend, which is a memoir - he talks
so much about the need to do all manner of other
things, be it teaching english or coaching wrestling
which I believe he did until his sons were both
grown and finished wrestling competions. He HAD
to support himself and his family and his writing
certainly wouldn't do it in the beginning. He likes to
take a long, long time to write also. Deadlines that
are too short ruin the book he says. I think the
teaching went by the wayside when he dropped
the bomb called The World According To Garp.
You know, that is not my favorite of his books.
It may be the one he is most famous for, don't know -
but I SO preferred The Cider House Rules over ALL
of them.
Irving says that just as his first wrestling coach told
him in the very beginning - he was not a natural
athlete - SO FOR HIM - it was a matter of 1 part talent
and 9 parts discipline. He has a little talent - but as
he sees it - looking backwards it is more a great deal
of discipline and a small amount of talent that
accounts for why he succeeded as well as he did both
as a writer AND as a wrestler. That he was NOT
naturally gifted. Nine tenths of it was all discipline.
So Joe - you are certainly on one of life's most
fascinating journeys. I'm glad to meet you as you
share a little bit of you with us. It may well be one
day - that you will be a famous author. Will you still
remember this crazy little story about John Irving -
1 part talent + 9 parts discipline???