Friday, November 12, 2004
Hobo Diaries: Learning to Go With The Flow
I believe that one of my Best/Worst personality traits is that I (usually) have The Plan. The Plan, in its Short Term and Long Term versions (and I have had The Long Term Plan for longer than I can remember), is the reason that I get up in the morning and is the MO for most of the life decisions I make. I am only good at "Carpe Diem"-ing when whatever I'm siezing on whatever day does not interfear in a noticable way with The Plan, and thus far, I have no complaints. I had an absolutely fantastic four years at college, and I still have a great life. That's not to say there weren't nasty bits, but The Plan has allowed to me to get through those really nasty things, like working in Rand, because it serves a greater purpose of The Plane - in that case, feeding me for really cheap. Many things have fallen from the sky that move The Plan forward (intern for a Fortune 500 company? For $17 an hour? And a 401K? Write White Papers? Yes, please!), but if they don't, I'm not afraid to do it the hard way as long as whatever I'm doing fits into The Plan. In other words, I need The Plan... which means that I'm sort of at an impasse right now.
I still have The Long Term Plan, but there's a huge hole in my mental timeline as to how to get to the end goal. In other words, I have only a sketchy idea of The Short Term Plan, and that really bothers me. After a long summer of having far too much time to think about many things, I do at least have a Short Term Goal:
One of the reasons I just up and moved out here is that it became clear to me that I was not sufficiently advancing The Plan in California. So now I'm here, and I love being here, but it is an adjustment. For starters, it was immediately clear to me that the people in The Mansion are far more laid back that I have ever been. It's kind of fun, especially since my initial reaction was to get all uptight, and it's really just not possible to be uptight with these people. (And I am so grateful - it saves me so much angst.) So tomorrow, for shits and giggles, I will be taking part in a road trip to Virgina to a high school football game at a prep-school. And it will be fun. And then I will come back, have dinner with one of my contacts, and begin a new week.
There's an interview in Baltimore on Monday for Sunrise Marketing Solutions. Wish me luck.
I still have The Long Term Plan, but there's a huge hole in my mental timeline as to how to get to the end goal. In other words, I have only a sketchy idea of The Short Term Plan, and that really bothers me. After a long summer of having far too much time to think about many things, I do at least have a Short Term Goal:
To find a political position with the probability of advancement, for a boss that I respect and a cause that I support.But what does that look like? I'm fuzzy on that.
One of the reasons I just up and moved out here is that it became clear to me that I was not sufficiently advancing The Plan in California. So now I'm here, and I love being here, but it is an adjustment. For starters, it was immediately clear to me that the people in The Mansion are far more laid back that I have ever been. It's kind of fun, especially since my initial reaction was to get all uptight, and it's really just not possible to be uptight with these people. (And I am so grateful - it saves me so much angst.) So tomorrow, for shits and giggles, I will be taking part in a road trip to Virgina to a high school football game at a prep-school. And it will be fun. And then I will come back, have dinner with one of my contacts, and begin a new week.
There's an interview in Baltimore on Monday for Sunrise Marketing Solutions. Wish me luck.
