Another Blog About Working? My Reasons for Posting

Most of my adult life has felt like a tug of war between "want to" and "have to." Sometimes the tug is barely noticeable. Other times, it's jerked me around like a 20-lb fish on a line.

The "want to " side has included, at various times, spend more time at home with family, volunteer more at the school, write a novel, start my home business, organize a neighborhood resource exchange, get a degree in adult education, and travel more.

The "have to" side, although sparsely populated - Work for a living - has always seemed to carry more weight. Enough weight, in fact, to throw me onto the mat a number of times.

Most of us have to work for pay for much of our lives. And for quite a few people, the job doesn't contribute enough towards a sense of purpose or mission (our life work, as one writer calls it), or allow full use of talents and abilities.

Some people respond to this dilemma by searching for their dream job with the same intensity that powered Frodo's journey with the ring or the Round Table Knights' search for the grail. Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, in Your Money or Your Life?, call it the search for Job Charming.

For some seekers, it works but for many more, it doesn't. And it's often not due to a lack of skill on the part of job seekers; it's simply because the number of people looking for desirable jobs (whatever "desirable" may be) outnumber openings. The recession limits opportunities even further.

The majority of us find satisfactory jobs, then use our off-hours to do what we really feel called to do. Contrary to the you-can-have-it-all philosophy prevalent during my college years, there is nothing wrong with this. It's a perfectly acceptable way to live - but doing it successfully takes practice...and a lot of support, resources and hard work.

That's what I hope this blog will be about. It's not aimed at people who are determined to find Job Charming even if it takes a lifetime (although none of us will turn such a job down if it shows up on our doorstep, bouquet in hand!). And it's not primarily for people with a burning desire to make a living as a writer, actor or whatnot. It's for those of us who've made peace with a good-enough job and are now turning our attention to whatever is most important to us, whether it be a vocation, an art form, a cause / community service, or family.

There are two basic components to Day Job / "Other" Life success: making the most of your paying job, and setting yourself up for success in your off-hours work. We'll be delving into both.

I invite readers to share comments, questions and ideas as we go along. Ideally this blog will be a mutual support forum.