I’ve been thinking a lot about reinventing myself. I’ve been running on a straight line since the late 70’s. But, the question for me is… what’s next?
Dreams
I spent the better part of three decades being driven by a dream. I wasn’t going to work in the morning, I was on a quest. That quest was born in the parking lots of the Norwin school system and carried to the units that I directed.
Specifically, I love marching band. I’ve loved it for a long time. And, even though it has changed dramatically, I still enjoy a great marching band performance.
I went to James Madison University because I wanted to be a marching band director. I couldn’t care less about music history and music theory.
Dreams realized
I graduated from college and went to work as a band director. For twenty eight years I directed marching bands. The hours were long and the work was intense and I loved it! I could never understand the guys who felt like it was a burden to be a marching band director. I was living my dream.
Unfortunately, my school had other plans for their future and I moved on.
No man’s land
I found a job at a nearby school. The work didn’t include marching band and the school lacked the resources to create one. Thankfully I have a tremendous friend who recruited me to work on his marching band staff. But, working on staff and directing are enormously different and I eventually declined to return.
My current assignment is 6 – 12 band and …. CHORUS! I heard about guys doing both, but never figured I’d be one of them.
So, here I sit on a Sunday morning at the local Panera Bread typing a blog and thinking about reinventing myself.
Work for work’s sake
Most people that I talk with seem to be working for a paycheck. They have no dream. They long for the weekends and vacations. Is that all that there is to work? Now that marching band appears to be in my rearview mirror, am I just punching a clock and ticking off the years till retirement?
More to life than work
I know that there is more to life than work. But, work occupies at least half of our waking ours. Shouldn’t that time be of high value? Are we really supposed to be spending 8 hours a day/5 days a week wishing that we were somewhere else?
“Family is more important than work!” I know that. But, family doesn’t go with me to work. And, I don’t think my workplace is “family”.
“Your spiritual life is more important than work!” Again, I know this. But, my spiritual life should be expressed through my work. I expressed my spiritual life through my work when I worked with marching bands. There were times that I felt like a youth pastor.
So…
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I finished this post by telling you my new dream and gave you a four point action plan on how you can reinvent yourself? …I can’t. The closest thing I can say is that my dream is to be a positive role model to the young people I work with.
For now we may have to settle with groping in the darkness while we struggle to find meaning in our work.
I’d love to hear from you in the comments!