You know what sounds really lame? Trying to describe this portion of my life. There is no good way for me to do it without out sounding like I am whining.
In the last two years and a half I have struggled to searched for jobs, found myself roughly $80,000 in debt, struggled to define a career, been to 16 weddings, moved back in with my parents, moved to New York City, endured a work related crisis, failed an exam, and questioned ever giving up on catholicism.
In the last two years I have also spent about two weeks in Italy, two weeks in France, lived smack in the middle of London, landed what is quite possible the best job I am likely ever to have, gotten health insurance, run two marathons/two triathlons, survived a work related crisis, NOT gotten married, and remembered why I am a retired catholic.
It is hard for people, those who have somewhat successfully made it to adulthood, to take my whining seriously given the latter.
David Brooks, the liberals' conservative, comments in the 10/09/07
New York Times about the section of life known as "The Odyssey", the transition from adolescence to adulthood (link is found here, but after a period of time a subscription will be required: David Brooks). Conveniently, 'tis exactly where I am right now.
We may be the most educated lot in the history of mankind. More people are attending college than ever before. And more places of employment are demanding it of us. In fact, when I was on the hunt for a job (er, career) the places that were the best fit (in my mind) were the ones that demanded education BEYOND undergraduate.
So what still leaves us/me so ridiculously unprepared?
Until now, there has been no way to practice the battle of boredom. Getting home and getting dinner on the table, can be boring. Feeling tired at 9:40pm is boring. Laundry? Boring. Making a budget, and sticking to it? Boring. Weddings, pretty boring, especially when just a year before you spent your extra cash on a trips to Prague, Barcelona and not on a punch bowl and a hotel room at a wedding factory in Jersey.
If you went to college with me, then you would know that getting housing OFF campus is made difficult until you are a senior. That means that laundry services, meals, social engagement, transportation all provided right on site.
My college was excellent at preparing me to think deeply about Descartes, Faulkner, the hidden truths of Economics, how to alter my ID.
But as I search for a new religion, a religion that teaches me to find meaning in the trials of everyday, I am fortunate to be guided by this movements spiritual leader.
Rumor is, when my girlfriend gets cleaning, shopping for wedding gifts, working with excel spread sheets, she communes with the Virgin Mary herself.
Making me reconsider my current position on catholicism.
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