LA LA, Big City of Dreams

(current locale: Marriott Residence Inn Beverley Hills (CA), Room 424)
(current background noise: air conditioner)

Okay, so that last question from the last post. Not like this is rocket science, but I like the happy resolution: You give the car to your best friend, he drives the old woman to the hospital, and you walk off in the rain with your girl. Since she's your girl, it doesn't matter the setting, weather, whatever as long as you have each other. Is that REALLY true?

I have to admit, I've been somewhat sheltered growing up in VA. Not like I haven't seen this or that, but for'real hardened violence/suffering/death...I've been fortunate enough to avoid that. Maybe that's why it caught me off guard the other day when my boy and I pulled up to a stoplight in Fairfax County, and a high speed chase damn near hit us! We had driven right by this cop about 1 minute prior, and the next thing I know as I'm pulling up to the light, I see a cop car swerve up on the grass and come back on the road cutting this guy off in the lane next to us. Then two cops rush out of the car and storm up to this car with two hispanic dudes, both pulling loaded 9mm's to the temples. It was crazy. I've never seen a gun to someone's head before, and I have to say, it's not that comfortable. And as the light turns green, the pickup truck in front of us has the NERVE to STAY stopped to watch!! Meanwhile I'm trying to get the hell out of there before I have six bullet holes in my window and see a trail of blood spilling out on the street. WTF is this guy in front of me thinking?!? I guess people really do think that things can't happen to them, but all I know is that if I see guns drawn and grown-ass men screaming and it's not directed at somebody I'm associated with, I'm gettin' the hell outta dodge. I read too many of these reports about stray bullets in NYC...

So that of course has me shook up a little bit, doing some thinking about what's important in life, which perfectly coincides with the question I've been struggling with for a few days...how harmonious should/can the relationship between CAREER interests and PERSONAL interests be?

I was "advised" a long time ago to choose a job over a location. I can see that argument, but now that I'm a little more able to think for myself based on my experience, I'd have to disagree. I do believe there are opportunities that may come along that we just shouldn't pass up, but even so I think that's a decision that only the person involved can make. I'm starting to think that being in a place you're happy, around people you care about and who care about you, is far more important than having an interesting job. I guess everyone views this differently, but I don't think a career is going to make you happy at the end of the day. You can't laugh and watch the game with a career. Nor can you cuddle up with a career and kiss it goodnight. I already know the answer to that question for me, and I'm pretty comfortable with saying that I'd rather have a mundane 9-to-5 and a great personal life than the greatest job in the world and a destroyed personal life. Of course ideally you wouldn't have to choose, and the lucky ones can have both.

This debate has been making my thought process churn lately, as I feel that my job is competing with my life. It's not the work environment or hours or anything like that, or even the travel, which has been strenuous. It's more about just being in NYC, which despite being a GREAT city to visit with unlimited things to do, can be a shitty place to live when you don't have excess cash or at least a few close peeps to share the struggle with, preferably whom you knew before NY. It's like quality of life just doesn't register there. But my job is tight. So....