Behold! I have found my vocation

in the midst of a (very good) introduction to Smoke and Mirrors, a collection of short stories by Neil Gaiman. And it goes like this, "...I wondered about where stories came from. This is the kind of thing that you wonder about when you make things up for a living. I remain unconvinced that this is the kind of activity that is a fit occupation for an adult, but it's too late now: I seem to have a career that I enjoy which doesn't involve getting up too early in the morning. (When I was a child, adults would tell me not to make things up, warning me of what would happen if I did. As far as I can tell so far it seems to involve lots of foreign travel* and not having to get up too early in the morning.)"

Ha! Perfect! Making things up, foreign travel, *eating delicious toast and drinking good coffee in the mornings, and not getting up to early in the morning! I added that bit about the toast and coffee, because I think it's a good one, and clearly fits with the rest of the job description. Besides, I already do said ritual on a nearly quotidian basis, so I'm part way there already!

But really, I do think I would love to write... now I just have to figure out how to somehow "become a writer" because, uh, it doesn't seem the sort of profession that one just applies for, generally... (And yes, I realize that if I actually have even semi-serious ambitions regarding writing I should, probably, write a lot more in general. Even here, blogging, because I clearly have not been prolific of late. Hmm...

In other life-vision-related news, last month I also had a flash of vocational inspiration and applied to Doctors without Borders. I thought just maybe my handy skills (um... Spanish? and, uh, construction and radio communication? I tried...) would be just what they needed in some lovely "underdeveloped" country in Latin America or something. It was a good thought, and really, it seems about perfect... but apparently they don't need me, at least not now. Hmph. Maybe I should study something medicine related?

So many options...

But before I do something crazy like go back to school (ugh) I want to be pretty sure that I want to do X thing for more than a few months/years.

And right now...

I'm still feeling pretty gypsy.

So maybe I should make more things up, do lots of foreign travel, and not get up too early in the morning. (¡¿Right?!)