E: End of year droplets

The number of days left of 2007 are two. The number of hours left at home with my family in Brøstadbotn is few. The pace of life has decelerates around Christmas with time off, many meals, and a bunch of family and friends. The business sense of being productive is distant, but efficiency can be measure in many ways. For my own mind, it has been healthy to tune out a little. It is in times like this one realizes that real creativity or inspiration often comes once you stop thinking too much.

For instance, I have not had so many ideas since I started my job (I had plenty coming into it) as I have had after I went on a break. This will hopefully rub off on the coming issues of Agenda 3:16.

Here are some others bits of my thinking the last couple of weeks.

There are two extremely vital questions in everyday life, about which we (I) spend far too little time thinking:
1) How am I - really?
There is a difference between asking what’s up and figuring out what is really going on on the inside and why. This I want to spend more time thinking about for the time to come.
2) What do I want to do with life?
What to study? Where to work? Many many many a time I hear people tell me that the reason for them to educate themselves to whatever they do is coincidental. When comparing the amount of time people spend choosing high school, university etc with the number of years of given subjects the choice leads to, it is almost scary. Of course there are chances of swapping, withdrawing, changing etc, but often it does not happen. I think it should be far more mandatory presence and scheduled meetings with school counselors to assure that people give their choices proper thought.

When being employed, many stick to their job for a while. But some maybe stuck too long. If people enjoy themselves and get enough challenges, that is all good. But I believe there are others who do not properly assess their own satisfaction and qualities in terms of thinking ahead. One does not have to stick to the profession one starts out in or is educated to do. At least not in my mind.

This brings me to the discussion I have had for some time regarding what I will do in the future. I am still trying to figure out. For now I know I will work as a journalist at least till this summer, probably for all of 2008, maybe longer. But in the back of my mind I have a notion that journalism is not what I do (or can do) best. I think my qualities are more in terms of counseling, coaching, leadership, motivating and analyzing – putting creativity into the formula. Other than consultation firms (HR, strategy, leadership, maybe media), I have given (police/crime) investigation some thought.

Another writing thought: My writing tends to be annoying complex – at least for other people. I have never been accused of writing too simple. A vague theory is that it is a rebellious act. I never really had a big period of provoking and uprising in my teens. Thus, I thought my way of composing text could be a subconscious way of protest. I have been working with an anxiety of repeating words/phrases/myself. At least up till now. From 2008 I will do my best to write things the way they are. Period.