Injecting a Little Passion in my Life

posted 3rd February 2010    Written by: Heather Rae    CATEGORY: All Posts, Heather Rae, Job/Career/Work, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 2

INTRODUCING HEATHER RAE

As life goes, I used to think I was doing things right.

Now, I’m not so sure.

I went to college, then grad school – I got a solid education.  I studied things that interested me, but I wasn’t necessarily following any great passion.  I was trying to be practical.  I should also confess that I was trying to make other people happy. If I wasn’t attempting to impress a professor, it was a boyfriend or some family member.

After being out of school for a while, life really looked good – on paper, that is.  I worked at a prestigious university, had a seven year relationship with a wonderful man, lived in a sought after zip code.  Yet, I looked around, and something just wasn’t right.  All that time spent impressing someone else left one person completely unimpressed – me.

So I decided it was time to make change.  What kind of change?  I had no idea.  I just knew I needed to inject a little passion in my life.

First things first, I had to figure out what to do about my career.  My job might have looked good on a resume, but it certainly didn’t look good on me.  It was boring.  Really, really, mind-numbingly boring.  The good thing about doing work that made picking my hangnails seem entertaining was that I had a lot of time to think.

So I did just that.

I researched, examined, even tried out, nearly every job that seemed remotely interesting. I read every career guide on the library shelf.  I took quizzes in magazines, had a psychic read my fortune and met with a career counselor.  They all told me the same thing:  my personality suited science and research. 

What? Seriously, that’s what I already did.  The career path was logical, practical and, it seemed, perfectly matched my natural tendencies.  Only, I was miserable.

So in the midst of all this career planning, and a seemingly endless lack of ideas, I did something different.

I stopped looking and took up hobbies.  I took classes at night at a local community college.  I started reading voraciously.  I took hula dance lessons and pole dance lessons.  I took drawing classes and bought books about art.  I started blogging.  I started writing.  And that’s when it hit me.

I fell in love with the idea of creating something. I wanted to write, make art, dance.

Of course, now that I had this newfound love, what was I supposed to do with it?  I’d always been told all this creative stuff made for great hobbies, but it sure as heck didn’t pay the rent.  Only a select few got that lucky.  And I wasn’t one of the lucky ones.

But then I had this thought:  why not? That’s right – why couldn’t I make a career out of writing novels or painting canvasses?  What made me limit myself to jobs that seemed practical?  There was no good reason.  I realized it was all just fear.

I told my fiancé about my wild ideas, perfectly ready to accept the disparaging look he was sure to give.  But instead, he cheered.  He said I should do it.  He was behind me 100%.  Wow, maybe I am one of the lucky ones.

So here I am, staring fear in the face.  I’m turning it all upside down.

As of last week, I officially quit my job.  I’m giving myself one year in which I’ll attempt to have it all (I would give myself a lifetime, but I really do have to eat and pay the rent) – I’m working to finish a novel, exploring the possibility of selling my art and finding time to travel.  I want to sleep under the stars, soak in hot tubs in the snow, go cycling, go rock climbing, go skinny dipping, learn another language.  I want to do all the things I’ve dreamed about but never had the guts to try.

Maybe I’ll fail.  But at least I’ll fail trying.  And perhaps – just maybe – I’ll be wildly successful.

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16 Responses to “Injecting a Little Passion in my Life”

  • Cathy Kalepo Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 9:11 am

    Heather- I’m so looking forward following your story.

  • Lizzie Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 9:15 am

    I really wish you all the luck in the world with this. I’m in pretty much the same position as you so I’m looking forward to reading your blogs and having someone to walk my scary path with!

  • Jessica Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 9:30 am

    Heather, I just turned 30 and am going through a similar situation. I have a great job but I’m missing something and need a change but not sure what that change is or should be. I think everyday, what do I really want to do? I can’t define specifically what it is I want to do for a career and hoping it hits me some day soon. I recently started looking into some community ed classes and am interested in learning yoga. I’ve got to start somewhere like you did by looking into hobbies instead of career change answers. I’m so excited to follow your journey – good luck!

  • Eran - The Quarterlife Quest Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 10:07 am

    Heather!!! This is fantastic! I am 30 myself and I’m still figuring it all out. I’m a firm believer that a quarterlife crisis can happen at any age – it’s a stage in life. I hit my crisis at age 28, but I’m still working through it all. I have friends who hit theirs at 31, 32, 35, 21, 25. Congratulations for taking the leap and pursuing your interests – I’m REALLY looking forward to your postings!

    Molly – thank you for including the 30-somethings at stratejoy. I recently got booted off a forum about quarterlife crises because I was “too old” – seriously?!?! thank you for recognizing that we need this too :)

  • Heather Rae Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 11:15 am

    THANK YOU! The support here is awesome. I’m so excited to share my story as it unfolds and can’t wait to interact with you all!

  • Anne Devine Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 11:26 am

    Go Heather! I’m excited to hear more about your adventures!

  • Molly Hoyne Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 11:40 am

    Heather- I am SOOO glad to have you blogging! And I wanted to tell you that I had more than a few 30+ gutsy girls saying “Thank You” for including someone “their age”… Which is also my age, seeing that I'm 29, eh? ;)

  • Julie Hathaway Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 1:13 pm

    Go Heather!!! I’m so excited to see the adventures unfold. I only wish I was going with you. Any advice on how to live adventurously and with passion with two kids :-) ? Truly though, you are very inspiring. I’m doing some more serious thinking about how to live MY life with passion. Seeing you courageously following your dreams makes me believe that I can do more than just THINK about it, maybe I too can DO it.

  • Hope Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 1:25 pm

    You ROCK Heather! You are my hero!

  • April Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 2:56 pm

    How inspiring!!! I love it. Good luck to you and I look forward to reading!

  • Andrea Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 5:36 pm

    Heather,

    Awesome- awesome and A-W-E-S-O-M-E! Good luck I can not wait to read about your year long adventure! Welcome to the club of super special amazingly talented group of Stratejoy bloggers =)

    Andrea

  • Christina Nalbandian Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 7:10 pm

    Heather! I’m going to live vicariously through you. Have fun and I can’t wait to hear all about it!

  • Carrie Keeton Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    I love you Heather. I say, go for it. Reach for the Moon. Let me know when you want to learn something cool. Like knitting or sewing. :o )

  • Erica Says:
    February 4th, 2010 at 2:20 pm

    This is awesome! Thank you for this!

  • Cafe Pasadena Says:
    February 4th, 2010 at 4:34 pm

    Thank you for introducing me to Heather. I’m kinda envious of her carefree attitude, her big smile, et al. I get the impression she is financially independent with not a care in the world!

    I hope she writes about my fav topic – FOOD!

  • My First Week Away from the Day Job | In Search of Squid Says:
    February 7th, 2010 at 5:05 pm

    [...] be getting closer. But, for some exciting news – my very first post is up at stratejoy.com.  Be sure to swing over and check it out! I’ll be writing for them every week, posting on Wednesdays.  I hope you’ll join the [...]

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