Learning Little Lessons

A little over a week ago, the unexpected happened - I was laid off. In the moment, the shock was overwhelming and I did what any other parent would do, I started reaching out to see who had work I could take on. But in reality it was a chance for me to recalibrate and reconnect.

In a very short span of time I've spoken with countless friends and acquaintances about all sorts of fun things: work, hobbies, life, money, time, physics, etc. Some of them even went into that realm of deep, soul-searching types of conversations that you don't usually get into on a typical Tuesday morning.

One of those conversations really stands out to me, not because it's specifically deep or powerful or any of those magical things. It was just a simple question that a friend asked and I lied directly to their face. I didn't mean to, it just kind of happened automatically. He asked me what I wanted to do with my life and I just fed him a bunch of bullshit about how I wanted to be a consultant and help people and blah blah blah. It was nothing more than a canned response that I've given to countless people over the years. And yes, I do want to help people, but consulting, software, technology? That's not the way for me. It's just a way to make money.

To be completely transparent, I still don't have an answer. I don't know what this post is even for. For me? For you? Both? What I do know is that I want to do something actually meaningful, something impactful. Building tiny houses for low-income or no-income families using some kind of giant cement 3D printer? That kinda sounds amazing! Is it real? Could I actually do it? No clue. Getting some of that trash out of the ocean? That sounds pretty cool too. I don't know, I'm just spitballing here. But these are things I actually want to do.