In high school, my guidance councillor Diane Kirkby-Greer said the standard line for the 1990s – you should expect to have three-to-five careers in your lifetime. That was an understatement. My career path has not been a straight line. It’s been more like the mess you’d see when you drop a bowl of spaghetti on the carpet.
I have been okay with that for the most part. It’s led to some interesting experiences, and a lot of knowledge-building. It’s also led to opportunity. For example, who knew taking a single HTML class in 1996 would have led to more than 40 per cent of my career path involving web development or database development? No crystal ball here – no one knew that. Who knew my background in photography would lead to graphic design work for advertising? Maybe some as those are closer to their fields. Or that working in digital advertising would lead to radio, including a lot of technical and regulatory knowledge. Then there’s the writing.
I can write, but prefer photography. I like writing hard news and sports, but was able to pivot into health writing at work when the COVID-19 struck. I was an C-average student in high school science classes, but I was able to grasp most of the things thrown at reporters during the heavy days of the pandemic.
Being able to adapt is a good skill to have. It’s kept me working when some with similar backgrounds have been sitting on their couches. The one thing I don’t like – for me or others – is when some think you may not have certain knowledge/experiences or when others diminish/dismiss what your experiences are. Learning is everywhere. Experiences happen everywhere. And those experiences may not be the same as the conventional learning way.
Instead of judging people, there should be more acceptance that all experiences are valid. Some are better at that than others. I am trying to do better at this in my own roles. Always room to improve, or pivot.
Three things:
Something to listen to: Doctor My Eyes – Playing for Change (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQPD17v6eLU) ? I did not know this had dropped a few months ago. I was searching for more about bassist Leland Sklar and this popped up. Very cool!
Something to watch: I didn’t post this last week and should have. Christine Sinclair, greatest of all time. Final game on the Canadian Women’s National team. Note, she retired from international competition – she is still a professional soccer playing for the Portland Thorns. Sinclair is the highest goal scoring soccer player in the world. Her international career over 20 seasons saw her score 190 goals. In comparison, Cristano Ronaldo is the highest goal scorer in men’s international soccer with 128 goals at the time of writing this post. Last week was Sinclair’s final match, here is a clip of her last substitution. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOk4QijLg9s)
Something to read: I am rereading this book – The Little Book of Hygge – The Danish Way of Living Well. (https://amzn.to/4aqDeKf) – This seems to be a book I re-read every late-fall to winter time. Maybe it is part of my hibernation process before the cold depths of winter. ? note, the link is to Amazon where I may get a commission if you buy the book. I still have to pay some of those customs charges from last week.
The Last Word: “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” – Winston Churchill