Jobs and Passions...

by Ann

Me in front of the store.  Great stuff inside!

I have a new part time job.  I certainly did not need to add one more thing to my already busy schedule to make myself crazy, so there had to be other reasons for taking it, and it's not about making money or getting the nice discount -- I am following my passion...

Is it realistic to aspire to Oprah’s advice to find your life’s passion and make that your career pursuit????  I am a sucker for any article or advice that resonates with advice that if you “love what you will do you will never work a day in your life.”  Really?  Who wouldn't think that wasn't a good idea??  But is it attainable?

My conclusion is “that it depends.”  It depends upon the answers to a few key questions about the passion or dream:

• How wild is your idea of a dream job?
• How many other people have that same dream?
• Do you have to pay your monthly bills with the income generated from chasing the dream?
• How flexible are you with extending the parameters of the dream?

I am a lucky person when it comes to career satisfaction.  I have always liked (some days more than others) my job in education throughout its many transformations.  As corny as it will sound, I became a high school teacher because I had such good experiences in high school, and even at the time I knew that they were largely due to good teachers.  By choosing to go into education I didn't have to compete with those wanting to be rock stars to get into my college; nor was the goal of being a teacher in the ballpark of being as exotic as those who aspired to become professional athletes or actors.

Did I think I was “living the dream” on the nights that I had a stack of papers that would take hours to grade, or the day that a kid referred to me using a word that I would personally get called on the carpet for if I ever used in class?  

No…  “The dream” requires perspective, which is when it comes down to it, the key to happiness in life in my opinion.  After hearing a celebrity or advice-giver sing the praises of following one's passion I look at the cashier at my local grocery store.  What is her passion?  Certainly not scanning groceries, but hopefully there is something she can find satisfying in her delivery of quality customer service which would provide personal fulfillment.

So – about my new fun “following my dream” part time job...

One thing tends to lead to another, and as a result of knowing that I’d be blogging about food I figured that I would need inspiration for my posts, so I became a “Kitchen Assistant” (K.A.) at Sur la Table, an amazing kitchen furnishings store in the most upscale mall in our area that provides between 7 – 10 culinary classes per week for which the public can enroll for a course fee.

As Kitchen Assistant, along with one or two other K.A.s for each culinary I class help the chef set up for the class, clear equipment as participants are done with it, do finishing work on recipes as they come together, plate the food for the students to eat, and clean A LOT of dishes and equipment.  

Dishes, dishes, and more dishes!  Anyone's dream??

This will most likely be the first of many posts that I do that relate to this endeavor.

  

I have worked at Sur la Table for about three months now, and have learned lots about culinary techniques, new products, great recipes, punching a time clock, working for an hourly wage, and working with a variety of people that I would have never otherwise met.

Crazy or passionate?  The jury is still out...