Live and Learn Part II

“What is it you want to do?” a friend asked. “Write or teach?”

“Both,” I answered without hesitation. I like the dual career of writing and teaching. For one thing, I get both information and story ideas from my students. When left to my own devices, I tend to be a hermit. My students, on the other hand, have families and work in big corporations. They give me glimpses into their world.

The one who wants to be Oprah’s best friend told me that he plans to continue in school to get his master’s degree because, “I want to do what you do.” He is the youngest student in the class and transferred to our accelerated evening program from a state university because they couldn’t work around his full-time work schedule.

“I learn so much from the other students in class,” he said, “and you get to do that with different groups of students every night.” He would do this in addition to his full-time job.

That’s today’s lesson: you don’t have to do just one thing. Another student works full-time in the financial industry and has a weekend business doing home remodeling with her husband, laying tile and building decks. She likes the balance of head work and manual work, although she is exhausted from working seven days a week. Maybe, I suggested, she could arrange to reduce her job to less than full-time. That way, she could maintain the balance she enjoys, but also get some downtime she desperately needs.

Who says you have to have one full-time job? Many people start their own businesses part-time while continuing to work their day jobs, with the idea that they will eventually work full-time in their own business. Maybe you’d be happier doing two (or even three or four) things. Jennifer Lopez doesn’t just act. She also sings and has a clothing line and a perfume. As I write this, she is probably developing even more interests.

Me, too.