Careers

I had a good conversation yesterday with a good friend Vern - who's currently moonlighting as a photo editor at the Rocky Mountain News, but has held several jobs since leaving the State News at MSU not long after I left there. We got to talking about switching jobs, who's thought about it and how often, etc... you know, regular bitch session. But what was interesting is how we both agreed that at some point, the career and its track become less important and it's more rewarding to focus on life outside, our cases, the paper. I'm far less likely these days to go job surfing on the web than I was years ago, but occasionally the idea springs back into my head about doing something else. Honestly, things are going well here and there's no real reason to bail. Crappy economy and pay cuts aside, I'm in a good spot and don't care to pull out all the roots and try to replant somewhere else. Besides, moving to another news organization would likely bring the same issues, and changing careers all together requires more schooling, cash and time that I don't have.
So, it was fun as we both came to the realization that just staying put isn't as bad as it sounds. I mean, we're getting paid, right? I have a good work schedule, I'm able to get out to see the girls at graduations, soccer games, baseball games, etc....
Staying put is pretty much a foregone conclusion, especially since we bought the house of our dreams last year and I've already imagined graduation parties, pre-prom stuff, all of those events as the girls get older - happening at our place.
Anyway - work keeps interrupting here so my train of thought is shot - the bottom line of this whole post is that I'm learning to adjust my brain to being happy, for an extended or indefinite period of time, at the Daily Herald. That's certainly not to say that I'm unhappy now, just that I need to shrug off this nagging feeling that there's always something better.
I still secretly hope that somebody at National Geographic calls me up and asks me to shoot an assignment for a few months, but that's certainly not something I'm going to quit my current job and wait around for.
Besides, I have a billion reasons to just enjoy my time outside of work and spend it with all 3 of my girls - after all, they're my life.