The Meaning of (Marine) Life

I've always admired my best friend, Boring Best. The reason is because ever since we were kids he loved film and photography. While all kids have things they are interested in, he remained passionate about this whole medium of visual storytelling. He took classes in TV production in high school, photography and film at our local college, and attended the prestigious Tisch film school at New York University. Today, he works in this industry. He's added other skills, particularly writing, to his resume, but he continues to work in the area of telling stories with language and film. While much of what he has to do would be considered "industrial" work, he strives to bring something dramatic to the projects he's involved with.

The reason I admire that is because I've never had that one driving passion in my life. I've dabbled in a lot of different things. To a certain extent, I like that I've been a dilettante because I feel it's made me pretty well-rounded. I know a little bit about a lot of things.

Recently, however, I've been increasingly uneasy. The things I've most enjoyed doing in life have been various hobbies I've jumped in and out of over my life. Unfortunately, I've never really been that passionate about the things I've had to do for the majority of my waking hours, namely, my careers. I suppose you could argue that being a psychologist can be an important profession that makes a difference. While I enjoyed working with many of my clients, I don't know that I ever felt a real passion for the work. Some of my colleagues just loved being psychologists. I think some just liked being called "Doctor" but some really loved the whole idea of the job. I think I cared and I tried to help the people I saw but I never really got a lot of personal satisfaction out of it.

When I started my own company, I liked the entrepreneurial aspect of it. It was challenging to go into something with no customers, no money, and no security and try to build it. I was proud of what we accomplished but I still really didn't care all that much for the work. Now I work at one of the largest lawfirms in the country. It's a comfortable job that pays well and I like the people I work with. But again, I still find the work to a large extent, meaningless. I suppose this is an affliction of middle age but I really feel that as a reasonably bright person I should be putting whatever meager talents I have toward something more useful and more satisfying.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about marine life. I love the ocean. I love everything about the water and marine life. I particularly love sharks and cephalopods like the Giant Pacific Octopus pictured on this page. Increasingly, I think I need to do something with respect to these animals. It may be on the conservation end or maybe some other aspect like behavioral study but I think I would really enjoy that. Of course, any job in those arenas probably wouldn't pay me as well but I think I need to do something else. I'm not a person who generally wastes time on regret but I think that if I never do anything different I might actually regret it.