Dear Diary

Life is long, art is longer. Or something like that.

If you stay engaged in academic interests - not necessarily academia itself, but interests - you will, over decades, probably swerve from your original interest. Some people don't, but many do. Sometimes the interests are additive, and sometimes they shift radically.

I used to want desperately to be an M.D. I am no longer sorry I'm not, as a wider world opened up in time.

This is not to jump the gun, you may be fine in further classes and advance and thrive in a personal legal niche.

l'm just saying what I wish someone said to me - it would have saved me time.

Life is long, art is longer. Or something like that.

If you stay engaged in academic interests - not necessarily academia itself, but interests - you will, over decades, probably swerve from your original interest. Some people don't, but many do. Sometimes the interests are additive, and sometimes they shift radically.

I used to want desperately to be an M.D. I am no longer sorry I'm not, as a wider world opened up in time.

This is not to jump the gun, you may be fine in further classes and advance and thrive in a personal legal niche.

l'm just saying what I wish someone said to me - it would have saved me time.

Many, many moon ago, I was a chirper lad who often encountered folk who thought I should be a minister...me, a minister. I suppose it was a compliment, but it also reflected the public's simplistic conception of a religious vocation. As an example, I spent a summer working at a national conference center administered by the Northern Baptists. Within the organization, there were large numbers of individuals who supported the work of the Northern Baptists. This included administrators, program planning, food preparation, academics, etc...

CONTINUED...

You are interested in LAW & LEGAL. What exactly does that involve...just lawyers...I think not. How about doing your own research project? Find out what types jobs are available under the subject of LAW & LEGAL? You could play with this for months or years.

I finally landed in Education...most of the time I did pretty good...It depended on the position, the leadership and the community.

However, later, I realized that I had a talent for things of art. I integrated my abilities into my work. You know; before I began my classes, I took a vocation test...the first seven recommended areas of vocation were associated with art. Interesting, isn't it? I wonder why I chose to disregard the test results.

Actually I am doing personal reserach into legal issues right now - mainly focusing on (surprise surpirse) Chinese and international legal relations. Its my interest in this so much so that I know I can't do any other profession not related to it - its embedded in my mind. I guess its also because of this recognition that whenever I do not so well I become upset - it makes me loss confidence in what I thought I was good at doing.

"whenever I do not so well I become upset"...I know it sounds strange, but that is an acquired habit. It would be helpful to learn more about yourself. I used the school counselors and individuals I respected. In fact, at each change in my young career, I managed to identify one or more mentors...wise individuals who were willing to listen to me. Sometimes they would reflect on me as an person. Othertimes, they would ask me questions which guided my personal search.

Mapleleaf and I are sort of alike in coming to art interest after zoning in on what we insisted we wanted.

I know, Prag, that you are very interested in legal issues re Chinese. I'm not trying to talk you out of that. Although, to some extent I see that as a motivator, not necessarily as a facility. You might be a better administrator of projects for some commission or other...having a masters in administration, instead of a jd.

Whatever, you said you did fine, you just didn't ace stuff.

Acing is not as hallowed over time as it is in the school years. Sometimes not acing is because you think too much and that keeps you from seeing the question with full clarity, as to where the answer should go.

I have a friend from India who has been a designer on several of the world's most famous rail systems. He has an architecture degree, the first of several. He took the US architecture board tests many many times. Last I heard he still hadn't passed... he kept outthinking the questions, as he described the questions and his responses to us. He is, indeed, too bright for the test, which is fairly practical by nature.

Well, I suppose by now he's passed it. In his case it never really mattered, as his position was higher up.

Yes - that is my problem as well! My teachers and peers both say I think too much, look too much into detail, and end up answering what wasn't asked by the question - I looked into the intricacies and overlooked the big picture. I've got to stop doing that actually, it is indeed one of my weak points!!

Pragmatic

What you study now may have no bearing whatsoever on what you do with your life! But you should apply yourself to it, as far as possible. If you want to do law, and are struggling now - perhaps start with a less complicated degree, and pick up law later.

Our friend the Prince is actually, I think, an engineer - and he's gone right away from that - I guess he's using the disciplines he learned, rather than the actual details.

I'm qualified in two fields, librarianship and health administration, and don't work in either of them now, but have taken parts of them to the software industry I currently terrorise!

Yes, that is what some of us have to share, that life is not a straight line all the time, and that the byways of the crooked or curving line can be really beneficial in the long run. Our Prince, for example, is really doing well...

Dear Diary
I'm sorry I'm not more loyal at this time.

30 days we all must have fallen asleep

Husker has it been that long? Well here's an updadate to my diary:

Some friends returned from the US and he brought me A Field Guide To The Families And Genera Of Woody Plants Of Northwest South America including Colombia, Ecuador and Peru

Pit,
It's true you see things most of us will never encounter, but are there some US experiences/items/events you miss?

Well there have been numerous occaisions during conjugal arguments when I've thought I'd like to throw in the towel here, head to the Alfonzo Bonilla airport with my credit card and catch the next AA or Avianca flight to Miami, continue on to Tucson, find myself a trailer to rent in the Sonoran desert and get a nice dog.

laughing..........

Dear Diary,

We were without internet connection for two weeks! All I could do at work was check my emails quickly. Funny how much we are used to all the technology...

I finally made it to my first week of vacation this summer! Tomorrow, Tanja and I will drive the impressive distance of 30 minutes to our little hotel in the black forrest. We will spend a week there - hiking, doing yoga, eating healthy ayurveda food, enjoying ayurveda massages - no tv, no radio, no newspapers, no meat, no alcohol - books, peace and quiet. Oh, I am soooo looking forward to this!

I feel that I really need this vacation now. The year was pretty exhausting so far. But - things are not that bad and I am not really complaining. I just want another job... We will see...

Have to go out for dinner now! Yes, I will have a glass of nice Italian wine :-)

Have a great time! I need a time like this very badly.

Thanks, Husker! The bags are packed - well, almost... :-) - and we will leave in a bit more than two hours.

I got home just after midnight from dinner last night. Stefan's boss passed out in the restaurant and his mother took him to the hospital. Nothing bad - just a bit too much heat in the kitchen, too much on his mind because his marriage is breaking up and he hadn't seen his daughter for a couple of days, too much alcohol after work and too little sleep.

So I called my brother when I got home. I haven't talked to him for months. Good to hear things are getting better there.

I will be back in a week! An all new urs!

And here I am! Relaxed, tanned and happy!

I had a wonderful week. We started each day with yoga at 7:30, then breakfast at 8:00. Then we either went hiking for about three hours or had massages. Full-body massages with hot oil! Ooooohhhh - that is soooo relaxing!

Lunch was at 1:00 pm - then we had to rest, of course... The afternoon was spent sunbathing, reading, talking, swimming, sleeping or just doing nothing at all and staring into space.

Dinner was 6:00 pm - more yoga at 7:00 pm. We usually fell asleep around ten :-)

We had sunshine from Sunday to Thursday evening. Some rain on Friday morning, sunshine for our morning hike and thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Our group consisted of 13 women and one man - the poor guy... The women were interesting, inspiring, warm. My friend Tanja was the youngest at 30 - the oldest was 69 years old. This group of women was very important to this being such a good experience.

The food was great. I did not miss chocolate or wine or anything at all. We drank lots of hot ginger water and had to pee a million times a day. Just imagine us hiking through the woods... ;-)

So now I am ready for six more weeks of work until my next vacation!