American
Dream: Work to play or play to work?
What does America have
to offer? Millions of people with billions of dreams and passions; some that
end up in boxes and some that stay plastered on faces. You’ve got the men with
the finest suits, baring lavender bouquets and diamond wrist watches, galloping
on their horse to the best street in the best city. Are they happy? What did
they dream of as a kid? Was he supposed to be an astronaut or did he have prodigy
fingers that touched the flute? Was I set out to be just like him? Was he an extension of my mispurposed goals
and farfetched dreams? I listen to my mother as she delicately explains the
path she’s intended for me before I could even talk. Without tripping over one
word, she delivers a fool proof map of my proposed life. I am to finish school,
enter a nursing program, find a boy that can afford to let me throw away my
degree and take care of our two kids. I shift around in my seat choking back
daggers, ready to break down that solid wall of expectations that keeps closing
me in. Call me gullible, but I think I’ve got it figured out. I want my life to
have a complimentary balance of passion, love and money. It’s these three
things that leave me torn and struggling between what my mother wants for me
and what I want for myself. Do I work to play, or do I play to work?
Passion
& Love
As I sit, scanning the
newspaper for entry level nursing jobs, I question if this was all I’d ever
amount to.What about art, writing and my love for traveling? Okay, so I haven’t
step foot out of North America and my paintings resemble crude analogies that
depict sloppy teenage love. And I appreciate that my writing falls short, but
why these can’t be turned into a 9-5 is news to me. For many, life is valued
based on earnings, status and consumption. While a healthy dose is required to
be an active member of society, it’s not worth throwing the dreams and desires
away that mold us as individuals. I
enjoy the idea of having a career that makes life easy and pleases my family,
but I’m not willing to jeopardize my passions for momentary gain. Cal Newport,
a science professor at Georgetown, claims “Growing up, we were told…to ‘follow
our passion.’ This advice assumes that we all have a pre-existing passion
waiting to be discovered. If we have the courage to discover this calling and
to match it to our livelihood, the thinking goes, we’ll end up happy. If we
lack this courage, we’ll end up bored and unfulfilled — or, worse, in law
school.” (2). Although I do feel fortunate to know with certainty what my
“calling” is, I also know that my passions most likely won’t help to fulfill my
dreams. Instead, it’s more plausible that they’ll hinder them. I’ve seen with
many, that your passion is no longer your passion when it’s your work because
it sucks the creative process out of it. So do I follow a career passion or let
it follow me?
Money
Part of happiness is
stability and knowing that financially you can make ends meet. Money can be a
devastating truth that leads to hiccups in our life plans. Ideally, I’m able to
comfortably profit from my passions and focus on the enjoyment that my “work”
brings me. Unfortunately, your chances of seeing pigs fly are higher than seeing
an artist that isn’t starving. The Census Government Bureau states from 1997 to
2002, paid artists, writers and performers salaries have only gone up by 2
percent. It’s said that once you make
your passions your source of income, it strips them naked, leaving carcasses
that resemble, but do not embody what you once started with. Money gives you
the building blocks to play and contort, and while your muse can not be bought,
your sanity surely can be. All of the stressors that come with struggling
financially are not glamorous and are not necessarily worth sticking to your
creative morals. A nursing career would offer a routine with guaranteed income
and designated days for play. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that job
outlook in the next 7 years is at a 26% increase, and median pay is 65 thousand
a year. Statistically a nursing career is a smart choice on paper; but is
selling myself to restrictions giving up, or is it growing up?
Sacrifices
So do I thrive without
a dutiful title, aimlessly wandering and waiting for life to start? Or do I own
up and make something of myself, and more importantly make my family proud.
Everyone has enjoyed something so much that they wanted to make a career out of
it, no matter how much the odds are stacked against you. The only thing that’s
bigger than the diversity of this melting pot we live in is our dreams. We have
the opportunity to become greater than our idol’s, but at the cost of walking
to the beat of our own drum. Ultimately, survival is a necessity and our
passions may not be. Do those movie stars and painters just have a remarkable
combination of luck and talent or did they all fight for it, too? Hypothetically,
I sacrifice my pride, money and well being to pursue something that has no
tangible benchmark, but is more self satisfying than any financial security
could provide me.
Conclusion
Have you thought back
to what you were supposed to be? Is your life full of passion, love and money? Anyone
who’s ever dreamt of pursuing their passions but has tucked it away for a bite
out of the American dream doesn’t necessarily have it all wrong. It’s my
understanding that there are many types of happiness; material, family, work,
self and purposeful love. I’m starting to believe that the ultimate goal is
making sacrifices along the way so you will forever be passionate and love what
you do and who you are. Whether you want to be a movie star with pink hair and
an agenda to change the world, or follow in the footsteps of your father at the
used family car lot; what matters most is what you do once you make your
choice.
Works
Cited
Bureau of Labor
Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational
Outlook Handbook, 2012- 13 Edition,
Registered Nurses, 29 March. 2012. Web. 4 March 2013 <http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm>
Newport, Cal. “Follow a
Career Passion? Let it Follow You.” New
York Times Magazine, 29 Sep. 2012. Web. 2 March 2013 <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/jobs/follow-a-career-passion-let-it-follow-you.html?_r=1&>
United States Census
Bureau, 2007 Economic Census, Industry
Statistics Sampler, 4 May. 2011. Web. 4 March 2013 <http://www.census.gov/econ/industry/hist/h711510.htm>
This was the first time that I have read one of your entries and it has to be my favorite essay that I have read! Your way of writing is just so easy to read and follow with; you have your thoughts typed well. Your introduction kept my attention throughout the whole paragraph. Passion is so important when it comes to having a job but so is money because while your passion for your job or lack of affects you, the money will affect your whole family.
ReplyDeleteAmazing. It's so funny how we think a like. I love your writing.You said it way better than I did and moreover, you gave me hope. thank you.
ReplyDeleteComments noted.
ReplyDeleteYour work is always relatable and forward and you use fantastic descriptives, I love the man on the riding on his horse in his expensive Italian suit in one of the finest cities that ever was. Although my mother didn’t have my entire life plan mapped as yours did, I too struggle with family expectations and my own desires. Lets say I have a special way of interpretation and a special way of expression, which is mostly wonderful, but I sometimes feel misunderstood, or that I’m not doing enough, or worse, Im not enough. The furthest from their intention, I cant help but compare to all 17 of my first generation blood cousins that all live within a ten mile radius, have their degrees, their life partner, in most cases have had their first child. I want these things, what am I doing wrong, or what am I doing right? This is another reason why I like your work, I get to talk about me. I think that more times than not it’s challenging distinguishing yourself from a parent, or a parents expectations, but your mother clearly adores you, and I love that. Love the bit on law school because I always pretend I’ll study some current necessary law, like immigration, but I just want to play a lawyer who falls in love with another lawyer and crusade for some greater good of human kind. And Money makes me sick to think about, but it really is a harsh devastating truth that leads to misdirection in trying to plan a decently passionate balanced life. I look forward to your future, you shine, and you make me smile.
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