Dayjob Dreaming
What to do?
I sit at my job, right now, looking out the window at a beautiful garden. I see people walking by that look happy to be here. I smell how clean it is and see how bright and airy this place is. I’m constantly greeted with kind words, and surrounded by people who are so nice that it’s impossible not to like them.
But I’m not happy. It’s not that I’m terribly unhappy. I don’t dread the drive to work, and I don’t feel nauseated when I think about the weekend coming to an end. But as I sit in my cubicle each day, I feel a little bit of my dreams just falling slowly away. The problem is, I’m not precisely sure what my dream is. At this moment.
So, here are some fantasy jobs that (assuming I could suddenly have all the necessary training instantaneously) seem like my so-called “dream” jobs.
Translator - I would take rich American families to France, helping them find their way through Paris and Nice and Provence. I would have a beautiful little villa with Greg near the French-Spanish border, and he would take over the translating as we took the families to Madrid and Barcelona. Between the two of us, we’d have a life full of European vacations and enough money to make it home for every major holiday and birthday. We’d support ourselves in lulls by translating at local events and helping with the local police department when they need an English speaker.
Writer - Not one of the journalistic-get-the-copy-in-by-midnight sort, but rather the one that practically lives in the library of her house, drinking cup after cup of coffee, writing 10,000 words a day on my newest novel, essays, creative nonfiction, or short story. I would have a crazy editor who I would argue with over my use of the word “so” in the first sentence of chapter 17, and a dog that prefers to lie at my feet and chew on rawhide.
Tenured Academic Librarian - Sitting at that big reference desk that everyone always flocks to in the midst of dissertation panic, I would answer questions many have thought unanswerable. On slow days, I would poke through the stacks, reorganizing and opening old tomes just to touch the rough pages inside. I would be renowned for my published works about scholastic research and influence of technology on libraries around the world. I would also wear really interesting jewelry and have beautiful, long hair that keeps me looking young.
Disney Imagineer - Designing roller coasters, building facades, shows or entire parks - I would love to be one of the imaginations behind all the things that make kids say, “WHOAH!!” every day at the theme parks. My crowning achievement would be to make a Tinkerbell ride akin to “Soarin,” which takes the passengers on an adventure flying over London and Neverland, complete with a sprinkling of fairy dust.
Coffee shop/Bookstore owner - I would have a small coffee shop with only two barristas who go to school at the local university. They’re both art students, so all their friends ask if they can display their art on my walls, and I don’t object. I have a couple of English nerds that help me clerk the book store, which carries mostly literature and creative nonfiction, and I’ve read almost every book that I sell. My dog runs around the bookstore, and is friendly with all the patrons, but can sniff out a thief in two seconds.
Ah, what a rich fantasy life I lead.