"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future."
--- Chris McCandless, letter to a friend, taken from Into the Wild
This quote always makes me think about where I am in my life. My future is about as secure as one's future can be, which is good in a responsible way. But sometimes I think that secure future is stopping me from being really happy now, and squashing my adventurous spirit. My job is OK - not my dream job, but OK. Some days really suck, and other days are OK, but none are great. So why do I keep this job? Mostly because of the secure future - because of good retirement benefits, good health benefits, a decent salary, and a fairly large number of vacation days (compared to most private-sector jobs). Plus, I kind of sealed my fate by going to law school - I'm pretty much stuck in the legal world now. I take some awesome vacations, but in between those times, I am not very satisfied with my daily routine. I'm only 35 and I'm counting the days until retirement, when I can really have some fun. I don't want to wait until 30 years to enjoy life - I want to enjoy it now!
Ideally I would either have a job where I worked outside (like being a park ranger or a nature photographer or something), or I would own my own bookstore. I have really been thinking about the bookstore thing, but people don't love books anymore. Everyone has e-readers, and even big bookstores can't stay in business. It would be cool to be a law school librarian, but that would require another degree, and there isn't a program for that around here. Maybe I can just sell all my stuff and live in my tent.
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