College as an undecided major, life as a wandering soul

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“When you have to make a choice and you don’t make it, that is in itself a choice “~William James

Today I practiced singing like Susan Boyle.  I don’t mean somewhat like her, I mean exactly like her.  I replayed her CD over and over trying to duplicate every oh and ah and wild horses.  At the end of my personal recording session between my house and the grocery store, the closest I came to sounding like Susan was when she was pausing between notes.  In that silence, we were twins.  Bonded.   It was awesome.

I haven’t always wanted to be a professional recording artist.  My original career choice was to be an ice skater, but I was limited by my lack of skill, inability to lift myself off the ground into a jump and the fact that I got dizzy when I was spinning.  Other than that I was golden.

I then moved on to my new dream of being a beautician or stewardess.  This was way before hair stylists or flight attendants even existed, and while we’re on the subject, why did we need to change the name of every job anyway?  I mean fireman sounds so much hotter than fire fighter.  Unfortunately, both these jobs got a giant thumbs down from the tall people in my life and I was made to feel that I was destined for something greater.  I actually think I would have been pretty happy doing either one.   What could be greater than hair and air?

Continuing on my journey to figure out what to be when I grew up, I found myself very fascinated by home décor and my interest, verging on passion continues to this day.  Over the years I’ve been repeatedly asked why I didn’t seriously pursue this as a career and my answer is always the same.   I like one style — mine, which is a cross between French county, thrift shop, and quiet clutter.  I only call the clutter quiet because it can’t talk, thank goodness.  Because I can’t really see the beauty in other styles, I have no desire to decorate for someone who doesn’t want exactly the same thing as me, and if I actually ever met a person who did, she would probably drive me crazy as a foil to myself.  So my career as a decorator got thrown out of the window with last season’s throw pillows.

It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t have figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up by the time I entered college.  Checking undecided as my major felt so wrong.  But fast forward 30 years, it’s pretty stunning that I’d still be mulling this over now.  However, after working full time for three decades, I finally have an answer, I am happy to report that I now know exactly what I want to be when I grow up.

Retired.

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