Employed again: Prologue.

Tomorrow morning, I start a new job that has been five years in the making.

A few people have asked me why it took so long to find work.  There's no definitive reason I can point to specifically,  but one thing is for sure: I had to put away a dream to get it.

I'll explain.

When the big iron turd of unemployment landed in my lap 5 years ago, I thought that I had the unique opportunity to chase down a dream of mine and attain employment in my ideal job as opposed to one I was obliged to do as a matter of survival.

The whole fun job-"job job" dynamic or more accurately, a 'dream vs. reality' situation.  I tried to make this work,  add you all know as my (chuckle) faithful readers, and rode that pony patiently awaiting that dream job to come calling.

Guess what.  It did not. 

What it took was the viewing of a YouTube video to set me straight, and the message of that video was disturbingly simple: do NOT follow your passions.

I know,  that defies everything that our parents tell us when we're younger.  We're told, usually by our parents that we can be whoever we want to be,  to follow our passion and our dreams.   It's a great sentiment,  and I'm guilty of saying it to my own progeny too, but it's lip service in the grand scheme of things.

There is an inherent problem that is not spoken when we are told to follow our passion and that is where your passion fits in with the rest of the world. 

Passion is supposed to drive us to be successful, but in most cases there is always someone who has the same passion who will be better than you are, or in my case not necessarily better but luckier and able to manipulate the system who usually took your place.

In my chosen profession,  especially when it came to the public side in my early career, that runs rampant.  I can't tell you how many times I was passed over for people who shucked their integrity and honor to get ahead.

Part of that can be blamed on the time frame (most of the 1990s), and the other I have to admit was pretty diabolically skillful.  Ranting aside, it's a quarter century later and finally, the epiphany hit me like a ton of bricks two weeks ago and BOOM, I got the job.

Where will this chapter take me?  Not sure.  This is only the beginning.  I'd like to yell CAREER and retire from this job,  but given my record at maintaining employment, I really can't.  All I know to do at this stage is to saddle up and ride the trail.

See where it goes.