Please take a moment to reflect:
- Is there such a thing as the perfect job? If so, is it an actual job, or is it more the possibilities, atmosphere, feelings, or elements it contains.
- Can you reach what you are going for by following a rational strategy, or are you waiting for luck or your destiny?
- Is the career path you are envisioning really your path, or is it a product of society? Do you do walk the path to satisfy others, or to show off titles and diplomas? Do you walk it to make your heart sing? Or do you walk it for the financial foundation?
- Is the path of life straightforward, or will new paths show up along the way? Are you willing to explore new paths, even if you don’t know where they lead, or will you stick to the safer route?
Only you can answer these questions.
In this article, will share my personal experience with career paths. I will share some drops of wisdom and inspiration that have helped me cope with insecurities and frustrations of life, and I will share my call to action for everyone reading this.
A healthy Change of Mindset
I want to share a quote from the Bhagavad Gita 18.47 that I wish someone had given me the first time I was on the job market: “It is better to perform one’s own duties imperfectly than to master the duties of another. By fulfilling the obligations he is born with, a person never comes to grief.”
The Bhagavad Gita is an Indian classic from the dawn of civilization, and its drops of wisdom are as relevant as ever. I hope you will take the time to allow the words to sink into the deeper layers of your being.
And lesson nr. 2: Everything pulsates between expansion and contraction.
I am looking for “a real job” for the second time in my life. Though it has also been a frustrating process this time, I feel a huge change: This time, I know that I am not the only one struggling in the system, and I know that even many incredibly talented people all over the world struggle to find a job. I know that I am extremely lucky to be in a society with social security. This time, I cope much better with the insecurities of life – thanks to all the hours of personal development, yoga, and meditation I have immersed myself in. However, I still have moments where I think my ship is going down. This time I stand much stronger in myself – I know who I am and what I stand for, even as the world as I know it collapses.
This time I have decided to focus on what inspires me, and what gives me energy. I prioritize time in nature, time to reflect, time to move, time for personal development, time to be creative, time for meditation, time for studying Italian and practicing Spanish, time for hanging out with people of different nationalities, and time to simply be. I also write applications every week, and I have spent five moths upgrading by skills and doing internships. My strategy is to neither wait for destiny, nor count on a rational strategy. I try to do something in-between. I strongly believe that the best thing to do when looking for jobs is to nourish yourself, reflect deeply, and visualize what kind of life you want, and then be practical and try to do what it takes to get there.
If you are looking for jobs, I will invite you to go back to the reflection part in the beginning. Take time to reflect or to journal. Ask yourself: “What life do I want to live”, “What is most important to me?” “What positions make that possible, and are any of the positions I am looking at actually a hindrance to living that kind of life?”
Whomever you are, I hope to inspire you to let go of your fixed ideas about career paths and open yourself to the vast field of possibilities for yourself and for others. Sometimes it is possible to make conscious choices and go straight to the goal. Sometimes, life asks us to lean into the mystery, and curiously explore the openings that come our way.
We are not here to tell others what way to go, we are here to inspire and encourage each other to find our own path – our own road to happiness.
My Story
I share my story because I know that I am not the only one out there, though, at times, it seems so. I share to inspire and uplift.
Never have I regretted that I followed my heart when I chose to study social anthropology. At the gymnasium (High School), I suffered from reverse culture shock after a year as a High School student in Texas. Luckily, I discovered the word Anthropology, and I found a large stack of Jordens Folk (ethnographic magazines) that allowed my mind and my fantasy to travel to interesting corners of the world. I was quickly determined to achieve the grades that were required to enter the studies. I succeeded, and after one year of collecting money, and visiting friends in South America, Central America, the USA, Asia, and Australia, I started as an anthropology student. Never have I regretted, that I studied Spanish and Latin American Studies in Nicaragua for one semester, exploring the culture firsthand and making local friends who have touched me deeply, instead of studying something more practical at home. Never have I regretted, that I followed my heart and did fieldwork for my thesis in a Mayan community in Mexico, instead of doing a long internship in a Danish company that potentially could have been the straight road to a job. And never have I regretted following the impulses of backpacking Peru alone, before the fieldwork, and extending the stay in Mexico with a Yoga Teacher Training – instead of focusing all my time and energy on the thesis. All these experiences participate in forming the person that I am today.
When I entered the job market in 2016, I thought a master’s degree in social anthropology was a safe way to a job. Reality kicked in: I spent 37+ hours a week applying for jobs for more than a year, I went to inspirational talks, and I did two internships, and a løntilskud (a six-month internship). No result. Gradually, the pressure of society was suffocating me. Apparently, everybody had the idea that if I did not manage to get interviews or an actual position, there was something that I did not do well enough – at least that was the message I felt. I saw myself going deeper and deeper into a black hole in my inner landscape and becoming more and more passive-aggressive to people around me.
On the verge of exploding, I realized that I needed to walk MY path, not the path that others expected me to walk. I spent Christmas allowing myself to dream, envision and play with thoughts. After one and a half years on dagpenge (job insurance), I decided to go full in as a yoga teacher. I had already taught several classes a week while writing my thesis, while applying for jobs, and while doing internships. Teaching gave me energy, hope, inspiration, and motivation. That was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Funny enough, it was a decision that I repeatedly had to defend. “Why do you JUST want to be a yoga teacher when you have studied at the university?” To me, exploring and teaching (in Danish and in English) yoga, meditation, Indian philosophies, mythology, and shamanism, has been a very practical way of working as an anthropologist – as a cultural bridge. I have spent uncountable hours doing fieldwork in my body and mind, studying and embodying with international teachers (also academic), studying sacred Indian texts, working with Sanskrit words, and making it all relatable for my students.
I am proud to say that I made it until COVID came into the picture. Maybe I could have kept going, who knows, but I decided it was time to try to unfold my anthropological skills and knowledge in another arena – but most likely I will keep working on the rest on the side. For sure, a break from the routine helps me see more clearly, what I want to keep doing, what I want to create, and what I want to do differently.
Who knows what the future brings? That is what makes life exciting, and tricky.
Good luck on your journey!
Maria