Hats off to you

2018/2/13

I had to travel to Chicago Monday-Thursday for 2 weeks because of work. Something I've actually done a number of times within the past year. At first because it was a "new city" and new place, so I tried out the local foods, and seeing the cool places, but now it has become kind of stale. One of the things I would love to do is go outside of the city and explore some different parts of town, but that's pretty difficult to do because I usually find myself getting out of work really late, and a number of "interesting" things tend to close early (like cafes I'd want to go to, the art museum, etc).

So I try to get creative now. In the most recent trip, I took a photo of the following sculpture. It is the "Gentlemen" statue by a Taiwanese sculptor named Ju Ming.

Looking at this statue reminded again of work, and how much of an impact it had on my life. Still now, I have a hard time thinking negatively about my job, and the project work I am assigned to, but also how difficult it is to leave that project. More people have been leaving the company, with the common factor for all of them being that McDonald's was the last project that they were working on.

At the same time, I have been making more effort in applying to new jobs, and as expected, I am getting a lot of rejections. Looking online at others who have taken their own job journeys, I can relate to a lot of people online with their experience of experiencing emotional difficulty looking for a new job , and just getting rejection after rejection for a long time before finally getting to what they are currently doing.

But now I have started to question myself. Do I really need to keep doing this "traditional" workflow? Do I really need to keep pursuing a lucrative career, making what the average society would perceive as good money, and living a stable life? Do I really need to keep living on like just another gentleman?

It's a really hard question to answer. And the more I think about it, the more it strikes me as something to pursue in life. Taking a break, traveling the world, doing good work like volunteer programs and teaching English, and making an impact while experience culture.

Of course traveling is hard. I know it as someone who has done it, and from hearing about the experiences of travel from other who have adopted a nomadic style of life. But difficulty doesn't make me want it less. The commonly perceived risks I have seen tend to be: money, time, job security (before and after), language, and safety. Understandably, I can see why. I too struggle with the idea of having a secure job placement even if I also decided to travel for an extended period of time, and then come back to my normal life here in Atlanta. It may very well be the only real hindrance I have to wanting to submit my resignation notice this very moment.

At the end of the day I don't really have any more answers about my future. But I do know that right now, I want to continue working hard and hopefully not burn out in my work journey. Cheers to those of you out there who are also trekking your way through this gentlemen life.