It’s impossible to pick a single dream job from my work history–I’ve dreamed about having most of the jobs I’ve had during my adult life. During my senior year in college, I thought I knew what my dream job would be–I was going to make documentary films. But while I was working part-time as a youth director at a church that year, a different vision presented itself: full-time para-church youth ministry. And it was a dream job in many ways. I was trained for ministry, I had opportunities to help a lot of teenagers with their faith journeys, and I was also privileged to work with college students, training them to do the same.
My next job was with the local school district, finally putting some of my educational training to work as a media technician. That job, like the ministry job, provided a wide variety of tasks and chances to use an equally wide variety of skills. Most notably, it provided a foundation for computer programming that helped to get me my next dream job.
I left the school district gradually, cutting back hours to work part-time as a freelance programmer, and then landed a job at the university computing center, where I was involved initially as a publications editor, and then later as a consultant and technical writer. I was working hands-on with computing, and I was also writing, using my journalism school training to create documentation for people who weren’t computer nerds.
That job led to (or morphed into) my next dream job, as part of the fledgling staff of a new state-wide networking organization, and helping to build the network and prepare educational institutions all across Kansas for the Internet. My role changed over the 14 years I worked in that organization, from user services to executive director and CEO of the organization, Which was a great job…until it no longer fit that description. (And that’s a story for another time.)
My next job took a turn and completed a wide circle as I joined the support staff of the church I had attended for many years, to work with music and worship ministry, to manage the building network and information systems, and to generally take care of all media technology in the place. This job was the best of all. I was in my element, working to make a difference in people’s lives AND working as the main nerd on the staff. I was able to use my computing and networking experience, my musicianship (which had been mostly a hobby until then), and on occasion, to write and deliver sermons when the lead pastor was away, a throwback to my youth ministry experience. Eventually I was ordained to the pastorate myself, a step I never thought I’d be able to take, but which I am very glad I took.
I’m in a whole new kind of “dream job” now–retirement and grandparenthood. Virtually all of the other aspects that contributed to all of the dream jobs I’ve had are still things I keep my hand in to a certain degree, and the privilege of being involved in the lives of my grandchildren (who live nearby) just extends the streak of dream jobs I’ve been blessed with over the years.
I don’t mean to give the impression that my whole adult working life has been wonderful–there have been hard seasons now and then throughout my life, as is normal for all of us, in every job I’ve had. In those moments, my “dream jobs” weren’t so dreamy, and sometimes those seasons pushed me to find a way to change my situation. It wasn’t always sweetness and light, but on the whole, I consider myself blessed.
And it’s not that I have no regrets about choices I’ve made over the years. At one time I would have loved to be a professional musician. It wasn’t to be, but I had a lot of fun in the meantime. Sometimes I still wonder if I would have really thrived as a college professor–I love being near to academia–but who knows? I may have a few regrets, but I really have no serious complaints about how my work life has gone.
It’s been pretty good.
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(Posted in response to 1/20/2024 prompt)
doug heacock: words 