In My Head
Instead of trying to address all five in one post, as I do tend to get a little verbose, I'm going to dedicate one post to each question. So without further ado...here's Teri's first question for me and my response!
If you could change your current career, what would you do?
This is tough because it’s such an open-ended question. I’m not sure if I should work under the assumption that, whatever career I choose, I would have sufficient training, schooling, or experience in it. But since these are my questions to interpret however I want, I’ll just say that if I could change my career, I’d either be a writer or a chef.
Writing has been a critical part of my self-identity for as long as I can remember. I’ve been fascinated by language and expression since I was a little girl. I can identify three pivotal events in my life as a writer.
First, I got my first diary when I was in second grade. It was a small, square hardcover book with a photo of an orange tabby cat nestled in a tangle of red poppies on the cover. I was most enamored of the tiny lock on it that could only be opened by an even tinier brass key that I kept hidden in my jewelry box. I wrote in that diary faithfully, and that was really the beginning of my love affair with language. Now it's just hysterically funny to read back on my eight-year old self's musings.
Second, when I was in third grade, I came down with the chickenpox and had to stay home from school for about a week. My father felt bad for me because I was so bored and one night, he brought home a grab bag of goodies for me. One of the grab bag items was a fifty-page book with illustrations on every other page that had blank lines on the opposite page on which I could write a story that corresponded with the drawings. The illustrations depicted a dog that had been abducted by friendly aliens and taken back to their home planet, and I wrote the entire story in about three hours, loving every minute of it.
Third, when I was in sixth grade, I got a Brother electronic word processor from my parents for Christmas. Instantly, I was enthralled by it and that’s when I began writing in earnest. There was something magical about seeing my words come together on the tiny four-line dot matrix screen, and since then, I’ve always preferred writing via typing rather than longhand. I can type much faster than I can write. At that age, most of the stuff that was produced on that word processor were stories about my best friend and I bumping into the New Kids on the Block at our local carnival—imagine that!!—being spirited off to Boston to meet their parents and then ultimately accepting their marriage proposals (her favorite was Joe; mine was Jon. I always liked the dark, shy ones!).
As an only child, I spent a lot of time trying to entertain myself. Writing was always there for me. So if I could make a stable, reliable living from writing, that’s what I’d be doing right now.
As for the chef idea...well, I just like to cook. I find it both relaxing and extremely satisfying. Of course, if I had to do it day in and day out for a living, maybe I'd feel differently.
Teri, I hope I did your first question justice. I'll be back to answer your next question!
Labels: childhood, deep thoughts, memories, work, writing
