The Economy and Me, Part 3

Alas, I am also a baby boomer, coming from the tail end of that generation. So I have my own selfish traits and desires to reckon with. Heck, even the indulgence of this essay will tell you that culturally I am a boomer.

So when I saw the Bronson article “What Should I Do With My Life Now?” my thoughts started out being only about me and my life. I really was only thinking of myself, and this essay ran the risk of being more a diatribe than any kind of introspective piece. That is, until I put the Bronson article together with the Page News and Courier information about the local unemployment rate this week.

Getting back to the Bronson article, which for the rest of this “diatribe” I will quote extensively from, there are some myths that need to be explored in the context of the current economy. Maybe some insight rests in discussing them, maybe a denounment is there about the future of Page County and the others that find themselves left behind by the structural changes in the US economy.

Myth 1: People are the architects of their own change. In fact, few people make a change because they want to, or because they can. More often, it’s downsizing, or because the relationship with a current job has gone south, or because of a family matter that requires undivided attention.

Myth 2: All it takes is passion. Sure, passion is important – just ask Starbucks, or Whole Foods, or even the folks at Two Fat Butchers in Front Royal, a Bowl of Good in H-burg, or Howard and Andy at Evergreen Outfitters (“Thrive Outside”). Passion is part of it, but hard work, and investable resources, have to be part of the equation, too, and they are probably even more important than passion.

Myth 3: Your dream job has no sucky parts. I mentioned that I am a baby boomer, and the three myths so far have been culturally embedded in my soul for my entire life. But now that the “pirate is looking at 50”, there is a whole lot of sucky going on. I’ve got to wonder if I have my fair share or if somebody is off-loading theirs on me. With a good job that is going to see me through the other side of the recession, I am one of the lucky ones, and I’ll put up with a lot. I am a little bit comforted knowing that everybody else experiences the sucky parts, too.

Myth 4: You’ll love the job for the job. If you asked a mason (Bronson’s example), would the answer be “I just love laying bricks?” If I could ask the chicken farmer nearby whose work this morning is filling the air with the smell of chicken shit, would he answer, “This is something I love, shoveling shit fills a void in my soul.” That’s doubtful, right? Inspiration, innovation, and productivity have to come from somewhere, from a sense of purpose, not often the task at hand. Each of us will define that differently.

Myth 5: There is the one. Again, here is something about purpose and mission, the hypothesis that each of us has a calling. Somewhere I’ve read about a Page County resident who was successful in the entertainment industry on the West Coast, retired relatively young, and has come back here to live. He now supports the economic development activities going on – that’s a career change, but it’s something that probably makes him feel good about being where he is, and we can hope that he’ll have a lasting impact on the community. The nature of things is that they will change, even for this fellow, but for now, I think he’s found something he can grow into and create a positive impact by doing.

Myth 6: You don’t know what you want. Bronson answers this by saying, “Of course you know what you want: fulfillment, connection, responsibility…and some excitement.” The real problem is how to get these things. And my answer is, they are there, but they are mixed in with the sucky parts. Which means it’s hard work to find them. It calls on every human talent to achieve them.

While it’s been a rambling process putting this essay together, in the end, Bronson’s macro perspective and the unemployment article in the PNC are about a call for transformation. How to make a change that leaves us all better off…the answers aren’t bubbling up from within me at the moment. I anticipate that the activities I’m seeing in the area, the economic development activities and the philanthropy, are a sign that others are looking for the answer, too.

The hard part is going to be finding the right thing to do. As a part-time resident – one who can feel the eyes looking at him when he walks into Wal-Mart or the Co-op or a local restaurant and hears the inner voices behind those eyes saying “that guy’s a Northern Virginian” – I’m anxious to find something meaningful that I can do for my part-time community. I don’t think it is simply a matter of donating money to the food bank or thrift store, because that’s not a lasting impact. I’m hungry to do more than that.

Right now, though, I can hear some carpenter bees buzzing. And next weekend, I am going to have get up and go kick their asses.