Mistake #18: Finding a Job and Actually Contributing to Society

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
-Thomas Jefferson

Do-da-da-do! Do-da-da-do! The horns are blown! The confetti snowfalls throughout the relative infested auditorium! In your hand you have one diploma-less diploma holder(university requirement, don't ask me why). You're cloaked out in your school decorum and if you were so motivated, you're capped off with an even more elaborate staple showcasing you graduated. That's right you just graduated college. You graduated many things. Not just the institution, that which you attended for 4+ years whilst sinking into 10 years of government-owed debt and of course you can't forget the near-future liver transplant that you'll require due to your "discovery of temporary alcoholism". Yes, these things happened. No it's not all that graduated from or for. I'm not going to delve into an in-depth lecture on graduating. One. because I don't want to. Two, and more importantly, I haven't graduated yet. I'm just setting up the exposition for a future blog post which might read something along these lines: "Mistake #42: Graduated. Would you like fries with that?"

This might appear confusing to you, you know with the the title of finding a job and whatnot. No I will not venture off into a discussion on tips on how to apply for jobs, what to wear to an interview, and what not to do. Honestly, I could care less about that. You need help? Google it. There's an abundance of professionals who are more qualified than a soon-to-be-grad on the art of securing a job throughout the interview process. However, I will attempt and execute a discussion on actually working up the nerve to search for a job. Remember, though it's a mistake. Forgive me if it seemed that I was diverting the attention of the blog away from this system. It's a downright horrible idea to find a job. If you do that then you're contributing to society. You're working against everything that teenage angst-filled you lived for. Yet, you find yourself actually searching for one of these yaaabs. Some people would pat you on the back for this. I'm just gonna stare at you until it makes you feel weird.

Anyways, the finding a job part. It's a mistake because it's acceptance that you've succumbed to the real world method of operating. You get to pay bills, child support, mortgages, and even better student loans! You'll get worked and worked to the point of exhaustion. For what you may ask? So you can eat, dress, or drive what you like or want? That wreaks of narcissism and insecurity up the wazoo. Don't forget you to decorate your apartment however you like. You can throw in whatever IKEA inspired arrangement your puny heart desires. Now you're happy right? Oh wait you have to go to work tomorrow. Gotta turn in early.

Goodbye to the days of where it's considered socially acceptable to walk around campus or your minimum wage job still drunk from the night before. Goodbye to the days that you go to work only 4 or 5 days a week with a day or two break in between. Yeah it was good while it lasted. Now you have a routine. You get paid a good deal more(hopefully). Oh yep you have to go to bed early again. Work in the am. Gotta ass kiss the new boss in hopes he won't fire my newly graduated ass just as I started. Worst mistake of your life.

Okay tangent time. The aforementioned advice of life in the "real world" is exaggerated to an extent, but also true in other respects. Now that I've highlighted the mistakes, let's focus how to actually get to a place where you can make those mistakes. In the job search process that occurs months before you graduate, you think to yourself, "Where would I be happy?" or "Is my degree actually going to help me in life and my field?" or my favorite one, "I wonder if mom and dad could get me a job?". Then reality hits and you assess your qualifications and search for the best job that can actually benefit from you being there instead of just crunching numbers like you're in a white-collar sweatshop. The first step is actually picturing yourself doing the work when looking at a job title description. 

When you see yourself in this arena of a job you have to see you actually enjoying your work. Work is only one aspect of it, however. You have to picture yourself away from work. Actually picture yourself in your downtime. Are you enjoying this new city you're in? Are you enjoying the same city you're in? These are questions that if not answered honestly and logically, that could lead to an actual mistake. Then it's open season on ass-kissing, because you'll find yourself in a very unpleasant living and working environment.

You may think that it's a mistake to take advice from such an inexperienced kid in terms of thinking and acting in a real world mindset. My advice for you questioning my advice: Shut up and take it. I'm immersing myself into the cut-throat real world in less than a trimester, or 90 days or so. I graduate at the end of this summer term, and then I start my quest to Philadelphia, PA with a brand new fellowship. I'll have an intelligent, but pale future legal drug dealer. Some people prefer to be all PC about it and call her a Pharmacist, but come on, she's not fulling anybody. She is a friend, a best one at that. I hope that with the lack of sun that sets up camp in Florida all year long, she may actually be safe from sunburns. Knowing her luck she'll just blend in with the snow and I'll make a snowwoman out of her. She'll thank me later. 

Anyhow, I have been procrastinating this process intentionally for weeks now. I was determined at first, and still am. There came a point when I was overwhelmed with fear, and fell paralyzed to any sort of productivity that I saw possible. Now I've already been ranting on this tangent for a while now. I won't stop, but I also won't begin a new tangent of a quest discussing fears,feelings, and tears(kidding). With this sense of paralysis, I wouldn't allow myself the ability to make a mistake. It's not a mistake to move to PA, but I thought it'd be a mistake to leave my umbrella I have here in my home state. After some quality conversations and self-discovering of what I actually want, I have finally mustered up the ability to face my fears and job hunt. A great way to start is picturing myself in a city filled with so much culture, freedom, and history that I almost had to changed my underpants from the excitement I got from it. I was able to picture myself in an environment conducive to my passion of writing, producing, and directing movies. Coffee never hurts either. 

With all that being said, the first mistake you can easily make here is not making mistakes. The second is accepting you'll make mistakes. The third, is turning those mistakes into gold, by that I mean learning experiences. Fourth, is owning up to your right to freedom. The constitution preaches it. So why not embrace it? You have the freedom to make mistakes. You have the freedom to be free. You have the freedom to pick up and move from a life that you've always known to a life that you've always wanted. Make of it want you want. That's all that counts in the end.

So you're making a mistake if you're finding a job to contribute to society. Fuck that. Apologies for my language, not really. You should find a job that contributes to your society. Corny, yet profound I know. It's about time all of us on the brink of big life choices and mistakes, finally decide to do what's best for us. America.

I think we could all use a dose of Philadelphia Freedom. 

I may be a reverend, but this was not meant as preachy in any fashion whatsoever. If you thought so..jump off a bridge, it'll still be preachy. I don't want you to die, I just want to you to get tangled in your bungee cord and get a nose bleed is all.

My sentiments to all ye hopeful and freedom seekers.

Rev Out.