When it comes to career passion, the possibilities are endless, as this Newsday column points out. How about a career as a leech hunter?
First we fade in on a steamy tropical forest, leeches everywhere. In your socks and pant legs. On your neck and arms. Some in your ears.We move now to South Africa where you're actually seeking out leeches, right in the cozy place they've set up home, the butt of a hippopotamus.
Yes, this may sound like a bad dream. But let us remember that some nightmares are other people's dream jobs. And that would be the case with Mark Siddall, head leech hunter at the American Museum of Natural History. His formal title - associate curator of annelida.
The column points to numerous unusual jobs in science, but it also has some great observations on passion. One deceptively simple quote from William Spike Weed, author of the recent Popular Science article about the Worst Jobs in Science gets to the heart of the matter of pursuing your passion.
So, what has he learned from his research? That "human fascination is broad."
What's right for me may be patently wrong for you. What's fascinating and energizing for you might be excruciating for me. So how can there be one "right way" for a career to unfold? There can't. It's a completely unique and individual thing.
A couple great observations on passion. This one from the vp of education at the American Museum of Natural History.
He says parents need to "feed kids' passions and help them develop a commitment and excitement," for something, be it related to sports, the arts or, yes, even spiders. "That's where a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment comes from - it's the joy of feeling committed to something."
And this one, though referring specifically to a career in science, is spot on for anyone's career.
But don't start off with too many hard and fast plans. Like him, you may happen on an unexpected interest. "Just follow where it leads and don't get wrapped up in your first idea," he says.
Your career is ever-unfolding, dynamic, and organic. And as long as you make you're choices based on what's at the core of what lights you up, the potential for passion is immense.
Oh, one last thing. Sometimes to get where you want to go, you have to pay your dues..
As for seeking them out in that hippo's derriere? Well, "that's why we have graduate assistants," says Siddall, 37. But those "worst days do make your best stories."
Curt Rosengren
Passion Catalyst SM
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