Today I am presenting at my youngest child’s elementary school for career day.
My husband has been presenting at Career Days since our oldest child hit kindergarten. He is a dentist. His career, what he does, and how he might identify himself lends itself to career day. Pictures of nasty teeth made pretty. Impressions of teeth. Scrubs. Loupes (those cool and yet goofy looking magnifying glasses). Non-latex gloves. Dental lasers. Who doesn’t think using a laser would be a cool career?!
But I am not a dentist. I am….
A mother of three. A wife. A daughter. A sister. A sister-in-law. An aunt. A friend. A neighbor.
A part-time cosmetics salesperson.
A full-time multicultural trainer and diversity officer for a religious non-profit organization.
A volunteer.
Year after year I would watch Peter fill out the Career Day volunteer application, and I would wonder what I would do as a presenter. Is a career something you get paid to do? Is it something you have achieved a level of expertise? Is it a job? Is it a passion?
Well, I finally decided I am a writer. I have had and continue to work in a variety of jobs, but at the heart of it all, I continue to write. Sometimes I get paid. Sometimes I don’t get paid, but what I write leads to an opportunity to speak in front of groups of people, for which I get paid.
I blog. I edit and write comments. I read other authors’ books, and I write reviews. I tweet. I journal.
I am a writer.
What are you?
Nowhere Man: “Since I lost my job, I can’t do anything of value enough to others to be paid enough to cover basic living expenses. That means, in the judgment of others, I am worthless. Therefore I am no one.”
It is unfortunate that a person’s value is often equated with salary. If that is the ruler by which I am measured, I would be just above worthless.
I trust that is not how you see yourself, Max S.