6. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?
I would be in heaven if I could be paid to research and write on the histories of places and buildings but in a job that also gave me an outlet for human interaction. I love digging into a subject and finding out about it but I also really enjoy working with people - helping someone makes my day. I don't know if that kind of job is out there but that would make me very happy.
7. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?
I don't know if this question relates to my employment or my general existence so I'll make it a two part answer.
In relation to my employment, I work for an estate planning law firm as a paralegal in charge of assisting people with the funding of their trusts. I really enjoy what I do and I love that it is not a litigation firm but a firm of people truly committed to helping people figure out how best to plan for the time when they pass away, ie. how best to carry out their wishes. We have a lot of really neat clients and the staff at the firm is great. To the question above, I suppose I do believe in providing people with the guidance to ensure that what they want done with estates is carried out after their passing. Sometimes it gets weird and hateful and paranoid but in general most people just want to make it easier for their kids to figure out how to handle things and that feels good at the end of the day.
In relation to my life, I am not doing enough and I think I'm settling. I'd really like to donate more of my time to historical/cultural resource organizations and to people in need. I'm having a hard time finding time (haha) because I work a very full full-time job, clean as a second job to get a bit of extra money, and try to spend the rest of my waking hours with my family. I'm trying each year to find a little bit of extra time or money to get involved in things that make the world a better, happier place for me and for people elsewhere. It's a struggle to think beyond me but I'm working on it.
8. If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
I don't really know. I think the question should be how would I have lived it differently because if I was only going to live 40 years, I'd be in the last quarter of my life at this point. I probably would have reconsidered graduate school and put more money to travel. I might also have considered marriage and kids earlier or not at all. Perhaps the lesson learned from this question is that I would have wanted to travel more and that seems such a distant goal right now.
9. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?
Hmm, tough question. I think it's been a joint venture between God and myself. I've made the decisions -college, jobs, graduate school, marriage, moving - but when I've gotten myself into rough or gray areas, I absolutely cannot discount a little deus ex machina with a capital letter guiding me to the next step. It's been the most amazing part of my life to watch how it unfolds, bidden or not. :)
10. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?
Absolutely the right things. Sure, I'd like to get said right things right but I worry more about doing the appropriate/moral/respectable thing rather than doing whatever correctly.
More to come! :) These are actually fun if I don't think too much about them. haha
No comments:
Post a Comment