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lathrielI have a confession to make.
This winter, December 2009 to be exact, I will be graduating from the University at Buffalo with a bachelor's degree in Media Study/Production and Anthropology.
And I have no intention of ever using my degree.
See, I love making movies. I love making animations, and directing, and writing scripts, and being creative. But that's the thing- I need to be the one in control. I can't imagine working FOR someone else, using my creative energy to make their dream come true. It reminds me all too much of a certain ex-boyfriend, who used up all his creative energy in marketing at work and had none left for his own projects. And then complained about it. A lot.
I want to write novels for a living. I've known that for a long time now, even though for an also long time I denied it. But the day I admitted it to myself was like waking up to find your soul standing right beside you, where you knew it had always been, but had never seen it. It was obvious, clear, more certain than that the sky is blue and the grass is green and I am alive and typing right now. I am a storyteller and I will be writing stories until the day I die.
But...
But.
It's not that I lack faith in the fact that I will be published some day and be able to make a living. It's not that I doubt myself or the Universe to be able to deliver the goods. It's just that I am OK with waiting for the Universe to bring me what I want, because I know it knows what's best.
There has always been one other field that I've dreamed of working in, but haven't attempted because I could never have dealt with the math and science required to get the degree, and that's veternarian/zoological skills. So, I have a plan. I want to work with animals, but I don't have the education to care for them in a medical/scientific way. I have the experience to care for them in general, though. And parents with the entrepreneurial experience to help get me on my feet...
I want to start a professional pet-sitting business. Yeah. It sounds kind of random, kind of like it's not work at all, but you know what? It's a big industry. And I would be thrilled to work with animals for the rest of my life! Animals love me, I love them; I've never met an animal I was at all afraid of; I don't mind cleaning up poop and pee and vomit and fur balls, or cleaning cages, or scooping litter. I love animals more than I love humans, sometimes- I plan on just having lots of pets instead of children.
This idea has been a long time coming, too. It began as a child, when I was too young to work but wanted extra money. I thought, hey, I hate babysitting, but maybe I could petsit? It never went anywhere, and then I thought I was "too old" to do that. But it always come up when I complain about how difficult it is for me to find work given the various restrictions i have because of my back... and it's come up again, a lot recently. I've been researching rates, looking into taking a community ed class on preparing business plans, trying to find a way to get certification as a dog groomer... thinking of niches. All-natural pet sitting? Haha. I can bake organic, home-made treats for the cats and dogs ;D
So, I'm pretty excited about that. I still need a part time job for the summer, but I'm going to start planning. I'll start small with a few clients, then work it out hopefully so that I can do it full time within a reasonable amount of time. The best part is, while it's an emotionally (and potentially financially) rewarding job, it's not creatively exhausting at all.
I guess I might use some of the skills I learned in school to help advertise for myself, but really, I could have learned any of that from the internet anyway. Oh well, at least it's good for my ego to have a bachelor's degree. Or, at least, I'd feel bad for wasting money if I dropped out now ;p
This winter, December 2009 to be exact, I will be graduating from the University at Buffalo with a bachelor's degree in Media Study/Production and Anthropology.
And I have no intention of ever using my degree.
See, I love making movies. I love making animations, and directing, and writing scripts, and being creative. But that's the thing- I need to be the one in control. I can't imagine working FOR someone else, using my creative energy to make their dream come true. It reminds me all too much of a certain ex-boyfriend, who used up all his creative energy in marketing at work and had none left for his own projects. And then complained about it. A lot.
I want to write novels for a living. I've known that for a long time now, even though for an also long time I denied it. But the day I admitted it to myself was like waking up to find your soul standing right beside you, where you knew it had always been, but had never seen it. It was obvious, clear, more certain than that the sky is blue and the grass is green and I am alive and typing right now. I am a storyteller and I will be writing stories until the day I die.
But...
But.
It's not that I lack faith in the fact that I will be published some day and be able to make a living. It's not that I doubt myself or the Universe to be able to deliver the goods. It's just that I am OK with waiting for the Universe to bring me what I want, because I know it knows what's best.
There has always been one other field that I've dreamed of working in, but haven't attempted because I could never have dealt with the math and science required to get the degree, and that's veternarian/zoological skills. So, I have a plan. I want to work with animals, but I don't have the education to care for them in a medical/scientific way. I have the experience to care for them in general, though. And parents with the entrepreneurial experience to help get me on my feet...
I want to start a professional pet-sitting business. Yeah. It sounds kind of random, kind of like it's not work at all, but you know what? It's a big industry. And I would be thrilled to work with animals for the rest of my life! Animals love me, I love them; I've never met an animal I was at all afraid of; I don't mind cleaning up poop and pee and vomit and fur balls, or cleaning cages, or scooping litter. I love animals more than I love humans, sometimes- I plan on just having lots of pets instead of children.
This idea has been a long time coming, too. It began as a child, when I was too young to work but wanted extra money. I thought, hey, I hate babysitting, but maybe I could petsit? It never went anywhere, and then I thought I was "too old" to do that. But it always come up when I complain about how difficult it is for me to find work given the various restrictions i have because of my back... and it's come up again, a lot recently. I've been researching rates, looking into taking a community ed class on preparing business plans, trying to find a way to get certification as a dog groomer... thinking of niches. All-natural pet sitting? Haha. I can bake organic, home-made treats for the cats and dogs ;D
So, I'm pretty excited about that. I still need a part time job for the summer, but I'm going to start planning. I'll start small with a few clients, then work it out hopefully so that I can do it full time within a reasonable amount of time. The best part is, while it's an emotionally (and potentially financially) rewarding job, it's not creatively exhausting at all.
I guess I might use some of the skills I learned in school to help advertise for myself, but really, I could have learned any of that from the internet anyway. Oh well, at least it's good for my ego to have a bachelor's degree. Or, at least, I'd feel bad for wasting money if I dropped out now ;p
