Thursday, July 8, 2010

Dream Careers

Jobs that I have managed to briefly have while being sick:
  • Retail clothing cashier
  • Sex shop cashier
  • Call center worker
  • 1 month stint at being an admin assistant.
Careers I would love to try on for size if I wasn't so sick:
  • Travel journalist
  • Magazine editor
  • Nutritionist
  • Neurologist
  • Professional or personal shopper
  • Investigator
  • Actress
  • Chef
Okay, honestly I'm not that picky in this situation, I just wish I could move and think as fast as others.

Instead, I'm aiming to be a researcher and writer (with a little artistry thrown in!).  It takes me forever to type out a coherent sentence with the brain fog, but I'll keep trying.

What about everyone else...what would you be career-wise without your illness? Or what were you prior to the development of the illness?

xoxo,
Annie

9 comments:

Ailsa said...

I started teaching at 20, so I'll be able to retire from teaching when I'm 50 (if I make it that far). I always wanted to learn how to make cakes, birthday, wedding, etc.,and I wanted to make it a second career after I retired from teaching.

coffeedog said...

Things I'd like to try if I weren't sick:
Crochet designer, yarn spinner, work in a yarn shop
Barista, coffee roaster
Bookstore/library
Massage therapist/chiropractor/MD
Editor, reviewer or writer
Pastry chef
I guess that's enough for now :P

Barbara said...

I posted mine at Facebook, but I thought I'd add them here. I would have been an archaeologist or a professional wrestler. Or now that I think about it a lawyer.

Offbeat Follies said...

I wanted to be a film & voice actress before I realized just how much energy/time it sucks out of me. My one IMDB credit for voice acting and some days I look at it and sigh.
Other careers I had to drop:
teacher, flight attendant, full-time live-in nanny (I can't drive), farmer & film maker

I've always been a writer and I fell into journalism (food, one of the 2 topics non-fiction topics I'll write about) but I need to expand & find more freelance gigs.
Hopefully I'll get one of my fiction works off the ground.

It's also troubling because here in the states we have a particular insurance company that is kind of screwy where it pays my very expensive medical bills but I cannot make much money. Kind of like a damned if I do, damned if I don't situation.

AmazinAdrielle said...

Before I got sick, I was still in high school. I used to be a circus performer and a singer. I also used to study dance and drama and make visual art. I wanted to go to university so that I could study behavioural science - my other passion.

Unfortunately, after I got sick I had to give up performing, circus training and dancing and stuff coz they took too much energy and I just couldn't do it any more. I got my degree in behavioural science while I was sick, but haven't been able to actually use it at all (in terms of - as part of a career/job).

If I had energy, I would love to:
*Go back to performing
*Continue making visual art
*Use my behavioural science degree to get a job in usability testing, or further my education in that area (had to stop without doing honours year because I was too sick :P)
*Learn computer science
*Finish my 3D animation course, and study game design
*Maybe become a teacher

Bippidee said...

I have only ever wanted to perform, literally for as long as I can remember. I have acted, sung and danced for years, and it is the only thing I have ever cared about. So for me it is Acting - there is nothing else.

Annie said...

Mmmm, I love all these answers. It is neat to hear what people are really passionate about outside of their illnesses.

Hugs to you all!

elisabeth said...

I enjoy my job but it has become much more administrative/managerial and much less hands-on/creation/troubleshooting, and that was what I liked best.

I would really like to be able to make my crafting hobby self-sustaining. I make gifts all the time and am told they can sell, but I'm not great at marketing and worry about taxes and calculating shipping right, etc. Not to mention that I tend to make a few of something and then want to try something new. I have friends who live off their crafting, but I haven't quite gotten there yet (not to mention the fear of losing my insurance).

I always wanted to be a librarian, but in an old-book library, or maybe used bookshop sort of thing. Then again, if I did it all the time I might not enjoy it- but who knows?

Maya said...

This is a great topic.
Most of my working life has taken place post-ME/CFS, during which time I've had to give up a bunch of jobs that I've loved.
Nanny...I've done live-in and not and loved it.
Entertainment Journalist...fun, fun, fun. All over the phone, all from home.
Theater Critic...free plays? What's not to love?

I've always wanted to be a Personal Assistant, I love managing and organizing. And I love the unpredictability of it. Kind of like being a nanny for big people. Sadly, I ran out of steam before making the transition.

Now, I'm in the movie business. Unpaid, mostly, so it hasn't screwed up my benefits. I've written a feature script, a short and a pilot since getting sick. Other projects are in various stages.
I manage the career of one writer and we're working on getting her film produced. There are long periods when I can't write well. There are shorter periods when I can't be 'on' enough to make the calls I need to make. But it's all working out somehow. We make progress and I'm hopeful.