新的工作！

I was thinking today, about what my life would be like if money actually grew on trees.  To begin with I'd buy a lot of those seeds and save them up in case there was a famine and all the money trees died.  Then everybody would come to me to rescue them and I'd be the money-tree-seed empress.  Of course I'd sell them at an inflated—but not outrageous price and everybody would thank me for being so generous and I'd be known all over as a philanthropist.

I would also live in a different country every year and not have to wish that my student loans would pay themselves while I was away.  I'd learn the language of the country I was in and then promptly forget it the next time I moved and start on a new one.  I would try a new career with each new country until I found one that I loved with all my heart because I wouldn't have to worry about being able to eat while I figure out what I really want to do with my life.  I wouldn't feel any of the pressure that comes with finding a career because if I got tired of my work I could just quit.  The relief from the burden of commitment would make me feel so immensely free that I'd probably hug everyone I met just for the joy of life.

I would never feel the fear that comes with not knowing where your next meal is going to come from.  I would read every book I could possibly think of and some others besides, because I wouldn't have to fill my free time with earning a living.

I would also never discover that I actually love a job I thought I was going to hate, because I wouldn't have been forced to take it to make ends meet.  I would miss out on the fun of creating culinary wonders from leftovers in the fridge.  I would never have felt the excitement I get when I find clothes at Goodwill for $2.  Being able to read whenever I wanted might rob me of the satisfaction of a stolen hour alone with a book.  It would cease to be a rare treasure and become the norm.

While I can't say that I actually am glad money doesn't grow on trees, I have to admit I'm finding out that the things in life that seem like curses are not always.  I started a new job two weeks ago, and at first I was revolted by the thought of doing the same thing every day, and no longer having my summers free, and all the shackles that come along with adult life; but after two weeks on the job I've found that I love it.  I'm a legal assistant at a law firm downtown and it doesn't seem so terrible to go to work at the same time every day and see the same people.

I promised to update my blog readers when I landed a job but I got distracted by climbing mountains with my sister during my last two weeks of freedom.  They were as glorious as two weeks could possibly be, but life in the low country is plucking along dandily too.  That doesn't mean that I won't keep my eyes out for the faces of dead Presidents on the trees I pass as I drive to work…

 

"So you think that money is the root of all evil. Have you ever asked, what is the root of all money?"
-Ayn Rand