It’s Labor Day weekend in the U.S., traditionally held to honor working people — which is laugh-till-you-cry ironic these days, when you consider how working people have been under attack for the past 30 years, but that’s a sob for another day. *sob* But this is a question worth considering by everyone everywhere:
What is your dream job? How would you be spending your time if you didn’t have to worry about earning money? (That isn’t to suggest, of course, that a dream job is automatically something that it’s hard to earn money at; only stubborn idiots like me insist on dreaming about work that it’s almost impossible to make a living doing.) Or are you lucky enough to be passing your days doing something close to your dream job?
Dream on…
Cartoon from Savage Chickens, which is awesome and which you should check out more of.
(If you have a suggestion for a Question, feel free to email me.)
I want to start my own cocktail and soda syrup company. I have a large swath of recipes, well tested, and have sold them on a person to person level. I’ve also been doing them privately on contract for things (when Bacardi, say, does an event, I get hired to make pina colada base by the gallon). However there are issues with needing a professional kitchen, and safe packaging. I’ve proven profitable, but the issue is really the startup costs; I need to be able to rent a kitchen for an extended period (probably one year), and there will be supplies in order to build an actual inventory so that I could sell at farmer’s markets and hopefully online.
In addition I would need to hire someone part time, because my epilepsy means I am not allowed to drive, so I would require assistance with setting up for events. There are local stores and restaurants that want my stuff; I’m friends with the owners at several places. My estimate is that I would need to raise about $20000 in order to start up, get food certifications, and start creating that inventory. That said, I have worked out my ROI; I can do a reasonably priced product and bring it to market and based on previous things I have done, break even within a year. But food services are a $$ bear to break into.
The last couple of years I’ve really developed as a songwriter, arranger and band leader – all in my spare time, of course – and wouldn’t mind working full-time as a lyricist and occasional singer and musician. I’d also like to have time to flesh out the concept I have for a stage play. (Need to grow and flex some playwriting muscles first, though.) However, I’m not quite sure if my limited talent would be up to these tasks.
Speaking of work that it’s almost impossible to make a living doing – ideally at some point I’d like to make a living as an independent video game designer. Anyone who knows something about the industry will know what a ridiculous pipe dream that is even the biggest indie superstars work grueling hours for little money.
Funny MAJ should ask this now. Just two weeks ago I lost what I would consider pretty close to my dream job…as an indie game designer.
On the plus side of it, the barriers to entry keep dropping. While it’s tough to make a living at, it’s pretty easy nowadays to just *do* (as a hobby, side project, etc.), at least as far as ridiculous pipe dreams go.
I’m still going to keep after it for a living, though.
i’d be a working actor… making enough money as one of “oh, it’s that person” character actors to leave me time to paint and write as well… i am nowhere near that. and at this point in life, probably never will be. i had some acting jobs, was in a theatre company for 20 years… but never managed to make the leap to Equity or SAG. but i still dream.
Thanks for the mention, Maryann! My dream job is cartoonist, naturally!
I used to want to be a novelist but I’m beginning to wonder if the fellow creative writing student who once joked about wanting to be a race horse
had the right idea.
I swear I remember you asking this question already. Or something very similar.
I’m a landscaper, a Horticulturist, a Master Gardener, and just a plain old gardener. I work as an Estimator for a landscape company that does all sorts of high profile work in Chicago. I like my job. But it’s nowhere near my dream job.
I’d prefer to tap into my love of nature and plants, and work in a Botanical Garden or Arboretum. I’d like to simply be a gardener all day long, and still make a decent enough wage. That’s not how these places operate, though. The grunt work goes to mexicans for, most likely, way too low wages, and the managerial work goes to people with fancy pieces of paper(aka four-year degrees). I “only” have an associates degree, and a lifetime of experience, which pales in comparison, apparently. It’s stupid.
I have bills to pay, and a family to feed, so I’m “stuck” where I am. I’ll make it happen someday. though, in some capacity. There’s no way I can tolerate what I currently do for the rest of my working days. I NEED to be outside.
Concept artist. Children’s book illustrator. Farmer. Homeschooling housewife. Travel writer. Novelist. Kindergarten teacher. Professional nap-taker. Very hard to choose!
If I won the lottery, I might well stick with my current job (sysadmin/coder for a small charitable organisation). Though I might well put more time into writing.
It’s not o much about money–although a little more would be welcome–as it is about time, for me. I would love seeing the average “active” lifespan stretched out at least fifty more years, so I could be immerse my mind in theoretical physics, then math specialising in topology, surgery, and backpacking around the planet.
I’m with bronxbee: dream job is being a working actress.