Pete Goss once said:

   Life is short, and the cancer of time is complacency.
   If you want to do something, do it now.
   Tomorrow is too late.

which I am trying to take to heart. I’m not sure what it’s trying to tell me, personally. But, err, maybe it’s clear in your case.

As far as your indecision of your job and career choice, I really don’t have much insight to offer you. Mine is strictly personal. I have always dreamed of being a triple threat performer – a dj, an actor and a musician. Well, after graduating with all three skill sets well exercised, the real world came along and kept on asking me for money.

So, I wound up temping, and after 10 years now work as a team leader for a Fortune 500 company based out of Seattle. That takes up most of my time, but the pay and benefits are awesome and allow me to live a comfortable life.

Do I still dream of becoming the triple threat? Not really. I have not announced full time since college (excluding a few voice overs for some training films), have performed locally with three different bands (The Sweeneys, Peevo, and The Filthy Bastards) and have appeared in movies and stage plays over the years. I enjoy doing those projects, and what has worked for me it to have one place to draw money and stability from, and to move my dreams to another area of my life. My dreams are done in spare time, not full time. It is a sacrifice to be sure, but to not have expectations stapled to what I love is warm and inviting to me.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that everyone needs to find a comfort zone between their dreams and the reality of getting bills paid. You are lucky in that you are in a position where the dream and the job coincided. While you are currently doubting your situation, remember the dreams that have led you to this point. Your work and your dreams may not always co-exist, but if you keep perspective on the dreams that have carried you to this point of your life, you will have the insight necessary to do the right thing in your heart. – J.

I was a “lateral entry”, meaning someone from “outside” the educational field. My first masters (in children and television) was enough to interest them in me; the catch was, however, to keep the job I had to get an MLS.

So, over the course of 5 summers, I got my MLS.

At some point after that my wife looked at me and said, “We’re sinking. You need to find another job.” She was right — teachers in NC, at the time, ranked 42nd in teacher pay.

When I started searching around for other jobs, I started looking at college-level librarian positions. Lots of years of experience plus a brand-new MLS should get me somewhere, I thought.

Wrong. “Professional” librarians, I found, were paid extremely little for all of the experience and education the positions were calling for.

Now, I’ve done library work since I was in third grade and have always felt comfortable in libraries. However, it quickly became apparent to me that what I liked about my job was working with the kids and not the “library” aspect of the job.

Library work, to me was, and is, b-o-o-o-o-ring.

I have met people who just love their jobs as librarians. They love cataloging, they love sitting at the Reference Desk, they love shelving books and weeding a collection. Obviously, it takes a special kind of person, one who loves library work and is willing to do so for very little pay, to be a great librarian.

On a separate tact, there are very few people who are able to make a living at writing. And getting to that point often takes years and years.

My gut instinct is to always tell people to follow their dreams. Not following a dream will only make you filled with regrets later in life. You seem too full of life and spirit to do that.

At the same time, for myself, if I had it to do all over again, I’d put some focus to my life. (My college degrees and job path are fine examples of God’s sense of humor. “Not exactly linear” was how the last person I interviews with put it) If you’re going to follow a dream, doing so with purpose and focus is vital to making it all work.

My unasked for opinion: if you fit all of these criteria, I’d say go for the MLIS. If not, consider what you’d either really like to do and/or what you’d like to do while you’re on the path to doing what you really want to be able to do and go with that.

(And, yes, I tend to not be brief in my comments sometimes. Sorry.)

…

It made me chuckle that these advanced degrees had the value of cow manure.

If you can’t get what you really want, or if what you really want can’t pay the bills; find something close. No job’s perfect, but hating what you do sucks the fun out of life. And life really ought to be fun.

Now, if I could only follow my own mom’s advice, rather than regurgitating it online….

My heart aches for you. I have been in situations very similar to the one which you are currently experiencing. My wife once told me something very significant when I was contemplating leaving grad school one class shy of graduation. She said, “It seems bad now, but believe me, it WILL get better.”

It seems simplistic and trite, but I find that it works for me.

Chin up … FWIW, know that you are surrounded by friends. Call it a cyber dividend of posting your blog on-line. People are DRAWN to you. I think that’s terribly cool and inspiring.

Thanks for the energy surge that your page gives me.

David