Tuesday, March 4, 2008

A Note about Process

In a comment to my last post, Narya very kindly advised me not to stress about finding the Perfect Job. I started a lengthy comment in reply, but it got long enough that I decided to post.

I make decisions by gathering loads of info, looking for patterns, and "trying on" ideas for a while. The trying on is an imagining of What My Life Would Be Like, and it goes on until I can "feel" it and understand. I'm curious about almost everything, and have a knack for several things, so I gather up everything, analyze it intellectually and emotionally, turn it over, examine the other side, and then embark upon a process of elimination. I'm fascinated by people who "know what they want and go get it". How do they just know? If you are one of those lucky determined ones, tell me, what's it like? How does it happen?

There's a certain luxury in being able to undergo this process--which I actually enjoy--in my leisurely way. When I was first job-hunting, I needed a job to pay for student loans, rent, food.... Now I have a steady job in hand, and I can pick and choose the next one.

1 comment:

Narya said...

See, I can answer from BOTH sides of this. Go figure.

Because I DID, in fact, "just know," and I was right--but I could not get that job. Or, rather, I could only get it (and that was still a theoretical getting) under conditions that removed most if not all of the aspects that made it perfect for me. Here's a koan for you: when is perfection not perfection?

And so . . . I've done a bunch of other stuff. I've found something to love in all of it--in every single thing. And something to . . . not love. Seriously, though? my process is not so different from yours, which is why I relate as much as I do (and perhaps more than you can possibly know).

Perhaps we should talk on the phone again soon?