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Abstract

nected. The important things.Careers were for people who went to college.Oh, wait. Right. Yes, I did go to college. Ivy League no less. But I missed out on the drive to build a career and there’s no arguing that my life would be very different right now if I had. I actually know people with fully vested 401(k) accounts. One has an account that hovers around $1 million depending on which way the market is farting that particular day. Can you imagine?<h2 id="769a">Career culture</h2>People who pursue careers often grew up in homes where one or both parents had careers. It is expected that children will be provided with a good education and go on to pursue careers that will ensure financial stability and, hopefully, some measure of personal satisfaction. In some homes children have their career paths mapped out from the moment they get into that exclusive pre-kindergarten.Sally will be a doctor, James will be a lawyer, and little Eric will be the tight end for the New Orleans Saints. Or an accountant.Some of us grew up where the idea of going to college seemed kind of ridiculous. We were “getting too big for our britches”. And some of us did put our heads down, pursue degrees which resulted in careers and have done really well. These are people, I suspect, who will make damned sure that their kids get into the best schools and go on to successful careers.Sally, James, Eric! Get those grades up and join some clubs.Some people who grew up in families where careers were the goal, buck those expectations. Some do that right out of the gate and others after trying to fulfill them and finding that they hate it.So, yeah, Sally’s living in a commune in Oregon, James owns a corner deli in Camden and Eric, well, we haven’t heard from Eric in a couple of years.We’re all over the place. But in much of the middle and middle-upper-class world, there is tremendous pressure to find a career. That pressure is there with good reason. Do I wish I’d pursued a degree that would have ensured I was ready to slip into my appointed career slot? Some days, sure. Living job to job presents its own set of pressures. They suck.<h2 id="be9f">The siren song of stability</h2>There was a

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time in my life when I scrambled to keep all the bills paid and failed. If the electricity got turned back on, the phone got cut off. If the heating gas got turned on again then the electricity got shut off again. The rent was often late. I was a regular at the local food pantry and various church organizations that donated food and clothes.I lived in perpetual chaos and uncertainty. While this may have been valuable training on rolling with change later in life (I have my doubts), at the time I lived like that I hated it.For nearly 30 years now I haven’t lived like that even without a career but there’s never a sense that the ground under my feet can be trusted. However, you remember my friend with the million-dollar 401(k)? She earned her degree in computer science back in the early ’80s and has worked writing code for major financial institutions here and around the world ever since. Recently, after 15 years with her current employer, she took a buyout package that provides six months’ severance pay and so much for all that solid ground under her feet.<h2 id="2e99">There is always enough money and there is never enough money</h2>Career or job, what it all comes down to is financial security. And, curiously enough, it was during the times of my life when I had the most financial security that I also suffered from the worst fear of financial insecurity. Go figure.There is no security.There. I said it. If you hadn’t yet gotten the memo, it’s good that you hear it from me.So, yes, having the right career at the right time does considerably improve one’s chances of not winding up sleeping in a cardboard box in Penn Station, but nothing is certain. My friend with her million-dollar 401(k) is in a constant state of anxiety about her future. She’s working with a career coach to establish herself as a consultant and having trouble sleeping. I’m not choked with anxiety, but my unemployment runs out in June and we lose my deluxe health care insurance in November, so yeah, there’s some tension there.Do I feel ashamed that I didn’t grab that big brass career ring when I had the chance?Not even a little bit.© Remington Write 2020. All Rights Reserved.</article></body>

It’s Absolutely OK to Not Have a Career

Or passion or drive or ambition or a 401(k) — although a 401(k) would be kind of awesome

These days I’m pretty obsessed about anything to do with work which is pretty evident from what I’ve been writing.

What is the Purpose of Work?

Not what it was and not what it should be

medium.com

“Revising” College Admissions Essays

Hey, it’s a living

medium.com

I had coffee with another Medium writer recently and the topic of jobs vs careers came up.

We agreed that not having a career is nothing to be ashamed of. That working at jobs rather than having built a career, and I’m talking any kind of jobs here (and, yes, I do include sex work here because it is hard work!), says nothing about anyone’s courage, capabilities, ambition, or direction.

I’ve always had jobs. No career. Just jobs that have consistently kept me sleeping indoors and eating daily, as well as paying the power bill so I could keep the computer connected. The important things.

Careers were for people who went to college.

Oh, wait. Right. Yes, I did go to college. Ivy League no less. But I missed out on the drive to build a career and there’s no arguing that my life would be very different right now if I had. I actually know people with fully vested 401(k) accounts. One has an account that hovers around $1 million depending on which way the market is farting that particular day. Can you imagine?

Career culture

People who pursue careers often grew up in homes where one or both parents had careers. It is expected that children will be provided with a good education and go on to pursue careers that will ensure financial stability and, hopefully, some measure of personal satisfaction. In some homes children have their career paths mapped out from the moment they get into that exclusive pre-kindergarten.

Sally will be a doctor, James will be a lawyer, and little Eric will be the tight end for the New Orleans Saints. Or an accountant.

Some of us grew up where the idea of going to college seemed kind of ridiculous. We were “getting too big for our britches”. And some of us did put our heads down, pursue degrees which resulted in careers and have done really well. These are people, I suspect, who will make damned sure that their kids get into the best schools and go on to successful careers.

Sally, James, Eric! Get those grades up and join some clubs.

Some people who grew up in families where careers were the goal, buck those expectations. Some do that right out of the gate and others after trying to fulfill them and finding that they hate it.

So, yeah, Sally’s living in a commune in Oregon, James owns a corner deli in Camden and Eric, well, we haven’t heard from Eric in a couple of years.

We’re all over the place. But in much of the middle and middle-upper-class world, there is tremendous pressure to find a career. That pressure is there with good reason. Do I wish I’d pursued a degree that would have ensured I was ready to slip into my appointed career slot? Some days, sure. Living job to job presents its own set of pressures. They suck.

The siren song of stability

There was a time in my life when I scrambled to keep all the bills paid and failed. If the electricity got turned back on, the phone got cut off. If the heating gas got turned on again then the electricity got shut off again. The rent was often late. I was a regular at the local food pantry and various church organizations that donated food and clothes.

I lived in perpetual chaos and uncertainty. While this may have been valuable training on rolling with change later in life (I have my doubts), at the time I lived like that I hated it.

For nearly 30 years now I haven’t lived like that even without a career but there’s never a sense that the ground under my feet can be trusted. However, you remember my friend with the million-dollar 401(k)? She earned her degree in computer science back in the early ’80s and has worked writing code for major financial institutions here and around the world ever since. Recently, after 15 years with her current employer, she took a buyout package that provides six months’ severance pay and so much for all that solid ground under her feet.

There is always enough money and there is never enough money

Career or job, what it all comes down to is financial security. And, curiously enough, it was during the times of my life when I had the most financial security that I also suffered from the worst fear of financial insecurity. Go figure.

There is no security.

There. I said it. If you hadn’t yet gotten the memo, it’s good that you hear it from me.

So, yes, having the right career at the right time does considerably improve one’s chances of not winding up sleeping in a cardboard box in Penn Station, but nothing is certain. My friend with her million-dollar 401(k) is in a constant state of anxiety about her future. She’s working with a career coach to establish herself as a consultant and having trouble sleeping. I’m not choked with anxiety, but my unemployment runs out in June and we lose my deluxe health care insurance in November, so yeah, there’s some tension there.

Do I feel ashamed that I didn’t grab that big brass career ring when I had the chance?

Not even a little bit.