There's an expression: shit or get off the pot, that if you don't stop to visualize, is actually a pretty thoughtful prompt to action. I'm thinking that for all of the sitting (yes, minus the h) I've been doing for 10-plus years, wow, I could have read thousands of issues of National Geographic.
I remembered the other day that in 2001, when I started working for the software company, I had gone into it stating (and believing) that I would soon be pursuing my Masters. Did I end up even lifting an eyelid in the direction of a university? Nope. I wasn't being dishonest, I was just being, in part, my usual big-dreaming, big-scheming self.
I also wasn't expecting to land a writing position with that company, or any company, without further education. But I did, and so the advanced degree seemed unnecessary. A few years later when I took several semesters of community college classes toward an electronic publishing certificate, I did so because those seemed more productive than any graduate courses I could take. And they were.
Now here I am. Again. On the commode of change and growth, constipated with indecision.
As I get older, I realize that, long-range, I can't continue in my career with what I'm doing, where I'm doing it. Whether I make that choice or it is made for me, it seems smart to be thinking about it sooner rather than later. The corporate world is made for young people, I'm learning. And there are many reasons that that's true. I need to find a way to remain professionally relevant; not easily replaceable by a recent college graduate.
I'm pretty sure I know how to do this, but before I start investing in it, I need to be really sure. Or at least more confident than I am. As I do that, I plan to try out a few free classes on Coursera. Songwriting at Berklee College of Music? Introduction to Philosophy at University of Edinburgh? Know Thyself at University of Virginia? Hmmm...
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