Alternate Lives, Actual Passions.

I'm committed to living this life I have and to making the happiest, but that doesn't mean I don't like to think of couldbes. Natasha over at Creative Nachos got me thinking about all the things I have wanted to be in life, all the career paths I could have chosen. And maybe, exploring those paths not taken can help us pinpont the things that do make us the happiest. And maybe if we look at our deepest childhood dreams, we can take some of that and live it in this life right now. Why the heck not?

-At five I wanted to be a ballerina.

-Oscar Award winning Screen Play Writer. I still want to do this by the time I am 50.

-Wild Life Photo Journalist for National Geographic. Animals, travel, photography. Neato. Can I have my own show, too? And write books to display everything I've learned and seen on my journeys?

-Bass player for a rock band. I can't play bass, but I like the cool of the Bass player. I would also be singer, but I would get tired of always being the front man. Maybe someone would publish the fiction book I wrote about the hidden life of a rock star.

-Bookstore/Coffeshop owner with poetry readings and acoustic music regularly. And you know I would want my poetry, at least, to be published.

-Interior designer with book deals and/or a show on HGTV.

-Psychologist. With book deals and teaching gigs.

-An editor of some fabulous glossy magazine, fashion or design or home and garden or something like that.

-Or, alternate to that alternate, how about a publisher of independent poetry, zines, chapbooks, artbooks.

-Oh, I'd love to work for Martha Stewart coming up with fabulous craft ideas.

-Wedding planner for fabulous yet not extravagant, heartfelt celebrations. With a book deal.

-Fashion Designer. Gosh, I wanted to do that for so many years.

-A professor of women's literature, philosophy, and/or religion. With many books to my curriculum vitae.

-A farmer. I think a small farm with fruit trees and honey bees and something like that. With a book deal or two.

-A jewelry designer. I still think about taking a silversmithing course and making my own necklaces and rings and bracelets and earrings. Oh, and selling them to all the fabulous people and making scads of money. I'll take a book deal and teaching gigs for this, too.

-Architect making small cottages that are green and anti that whole McMansion thing. And a book deal. Small is Beautiful.

-Writer Illustrator of children's books. With lots of published books and some awards. Speaking and teaching gigs to boot.

-Owner of a bed and breakfast... no, not a bed and breakfast quite... an artists' retreat, which would be a bed and breakfast and workshop and studio all wrapped up in one. Yeah, that's it.
And a book deal... need I say it?

-Comic book artist. I made my first superhero when I was ten. Her name was Ultra Girl, and her sidekick was a black teenager. And the guy back at headquarters with the computers was a muscle bound man. I think I'd like to teach along with this one, throw in the book deal, too. Oh wait. They need to make movies out of my comicbooks, so throw in a Hollywood movie deal and link this one back to the best original screenplay.

(I just realize how many of my alternate lives are "fabulous." I guess I've watched too many Sex and the City episodes.)

-Ooh. A chef with a small restaurant and/or catering company, "fabulously" popular cookbooks, and my own show on Food Network. And I want a huge, gorgeous house in the Hamptons to go with it... oh wait, apparently I want to be Ina Gartner... but with kids.

-Costume designer for period movies. I'd like to teach this one, with an additional book deal to share all my fabulous historical and artistic knowledge.

-A maker of miniatures or bigatures working with a company like Weta Works. I think it would have been so cool to help make a huge venture like Lord of the Rings. I don't know if this one gets a book deal. Maybe just teaching.

-A filmmaker. Behind the camera, yeah, that's the ticket. No book deal necessary. Lots of Hollywood contracts, though. And some Oscars, please.

-A window display stylist... or doing the styling for Pottery Barn or Urban Outfitters or some place like that. With a book deal and/or a show on some national channel.

-And then, since what I'm doing is SAHM/waittress/blogger for the love of it/closet writer, there's my alternate reality of published author of novels, poetry and non-fiction, in-demand guest teacher, guest writer, guest speaker, and beloved, critically acclaimed... well everything.
Basically I just want to have book deals and teach. Can you tell?

Looking over my list, I can see that what I really want to do is write and teach what I love. I didn't put an actual teacher on the list because I have already done that, and I want it to be a little bit closer to my passions and farther from the BS that is the public school system.

And a lot of my dreams for a career are still possible. But even the ones that aren't, due to age or training, well they say something about my passions. Hmm. I wonder how many of these dreams I can manage to squeeze into the rest of my life.

What are your alternate reality dream careers? What do you think they say about your passions?