When I graduated from college and got my first 'real' job all I wanted in the whole world was my very own desk--one I didn't have to share with anyone else. I finally got one and I immediately decorated it with the obligatory framed photo of myself and my husband in some exotic locale. That's what you're supposed to do after all. I loved my desk, but I hardly ever used it. I worked at a place that allowed me to be on my feet and outdoors quite a bit. It was nice to know my desk was there waiting on me should it rain and I be stuck indoors. Pretty soon though that desk was no longer enough. I began to long for my own private office.
Then one day I became a Teaching Assistant and then a Graduate Assistant. I had my very own desk and my very own office for both of these positions. Not only did I have the obligatory desk photo, I hung a painting. I had my name on the door! WOW. My very own office. I was so very impressed with myself. No one in my family had ever had their very own office. I patted myself on the back. Then I got busy with work and I wondered around campus to complete various tasks. I sat outside in the courtyard to do most of my work. I only used my office when I had to meet with students. My poor office was a neglected room, rarely used and only unlocked during my mandatory office hours. I opened the windows during my office hours and listened to the birds chirp. The second my hour was up I closed those windows and took my laptop down the stairs and out the door to perch on the bench outside my building where I could feel the sunshine on my face.
In all this time it has never occurred to me that I did not actually want an office. Now, as I sit in another office (this one with less windows and no birds), I can finally admit I do not want an office. I don't even have to have a desk. I stare out the window every day, longingly....wishing I could be outside with the sunshine, wishing I worked in streets that looked like this:
Or perhaps that my office looked more like this:
Or maybe even like this:
One thing's for damn sure--I HATE THIS OFFICE! It's like a prison. I can stare out the window, but it won't open. I can't go outside. It's 90 degrees out, but I would still rather be out there than in here. I want to be outside. I want to work where I can feel the sun shining warmly on my face or ocean waves lapping cooly at my body. I want to be emersed in history and nature. I do not want to be here.
I think it's time to work on a new career path.
