My Dream Job Doesn't Exist

I should preface this by saying I don't even know if I have a dream job. I mean, ideally I would get paid to do absolutely nothing. Just kidding. But you know what I mean? We all have our dream jobs of making enough money to travel and live a mildly extravagant life. Beyond that, we all have that ideal dream job that's slightly more realistic and generally follows the path we've taken to get there, whether it's what we went to college or trade school for or just something we were interested in before we dove into the work force.

The older I get and the closer I creep to graduation, I think I get asked questions about what my plans are post-grad at least a dozen times a week, one way or another. I've talked about feeling like I'm stuck in limbo, in that sort of "I don't know" mentality and that really hasn't changed much. I'm twenty (nearly twenty-one) and I don't think I have to know. Knowing seems limiting to me. For my personal interests, having one solid thing that I want to do might just not be possible and I don't think I'd want that for myself. I like options. I like keeping my mind open to new opportunities. I just don't think I'm in the business to turn anything down. That's not to say I have to say yes to everything, but in the area that I think I want to work in, things are ever-changing and I need to keep my eyes open for new developments.

My main interests lie specifically in fashion and beauty. I haven't completely ruled out the idea of being a journalist in those aspects, but I have never been interested in–and have really solidified my distaste for–news writing. It's just not for me. But I've also grown attached to strategic social media concepts as well as online marketing and e-commerce. Do jobs like this exist in the world? Probably, most likely. Maybe not a whole conglomerate of my interests, but sometimes our dream jobs with dream aspects and salaries just don't exist. We have to make the best of what we can find and slowly see if you can slip your interests or aspects of them into it.

I graduate in a few months and my future is pretty fuzzy. I have ideas, but nothing is set in stone and nothing will be set in stone for a while. It's driving me a little nutty to not have solid plans, but in a world where things change daily (hell, even hourly), I can't count on anything. I can't plan ahead because things could come up a year from now or even things might disappear a year from now. My dream job might not exist now, it might not exist in a year. Maybe I'll have to create my dream job.

It might seem stressful to not know. It might drive you absolutely crazy not having a solid idea for your future. But we are meant to constantly grow and change. People might be in the same job that they love for decades. Some people might switch job every two years to find something that works for them. There is no one straight and narrow path for everyone. Sometimes, there are twists and turns that will run you up and down a mountain. They might knock you down and steer you in the wrong direction, but we'll find our way eventually.