[Dahut-pm] Walking With Dahuts

[James G Smith]

Kip Hampton <khampton at totalcinema.com> wrote:
>DAAAHUUUT!!!

Dahuuut!

>Are you really happy with what you're doing? Not just interested, or 
>thankful to be in a position to pay the bills mostly on time, but 
>fulfilled? Is that enough? Are you doing what you always thought you 
>were "meant" to do? Is that question even meaningful anymore?

I'm not happy with my job, but it's not because I'm doing system
administration and want to be programming, or doing some programming
and want to do something else.  It's because I have grown into my job
and need something to stimulate me.  The present job has become stale.

Is life fulfilling?  Definitely.  Even though I don't have a
significant other or two with whom to share, I do have close
friends.  I have non-work-related interests that challenge me.  They
are part of the reason I moved from application developer to system
administrator (though I've never left either completely in my time at
the University).

>Are you on course? If not, can you change it? What would it cost you to 
>put your dreams to the test? Are you willing to pay that price?

I'm close to on course.  I'll know more in a month.

One of the most transformational movies I've seen is _The Hours_.
That has done more to change my outlook on life than anything else
I've come across.  _Amadeus_ is up there, but not at the top of the
list.

I've learned that having a particular goal is not satisfying.  When I
was a teenager, my goal was to become a system administrator. Now
that I have been one for seven years, I've grown weary and want to do
something more stimulating.

In the process, I've learned to make decisions based on who I want to
be rather than what I want to be.  I help people.

The things that fulfill me: 
  * learning,
  * being advisor for Cepheid Variable ( http://cepheid.tamu.edu/ ),
    a student science fiction group that puts together a yearly
    convention (AggieCon - http://aggiecon.tamu.edu/ ),
  * working on my novel for my creative writing thesis,
  * tai chi,
  * piano,
  * singing,
  * cooking,
  * visiting friends,
  * working with faculty on technology issues.

What I'm working on at the moment is getting a position helping
faculty understand technology so they can use it in their research
projects.  I'm also working on finishing the novel for my thesis so I
can get my masters degree and also become (hopefully) a published
science fiction author.  The first is a job that I can enjoy and grow
with to support the second, which is something I've always had an
itch for since I can remember.


If you could offer me
One hour of repose
In which my soul might find peace;
If you could reveal to the darkest recesses of my mind
My true self and the truth of the world.
Were it to come to pass, I would say
To the fleeting moment:
Stay, for thou art beautiful!
Then might I die
And let fearsome Hell engulf me.
(Faust, "Se tu mi doni," Act I, _Mefistofele_, Arrigo Boito, 
 trans. B.  L.  Scherer)

-- 
James Smith <JGSmith at TAMU.Edu>, 979-862-3725
Texas A&M CIS Operating Systems Group, Unix