Turning 30

I remember getting ready to join the Peace Corps and one the things that scared me the most was knowing that I would be coming back well on my way to 30.

I was 24 when going into the Peace Corps and at 24 it seemed like that first quarter century passes without my noticing. I was pretty sure that I would hit 30 with that same sense of “where has all the time gone?”

Peace Crops really helped with that. It helped put me well outside an area where I felt comfortable and in doing so helped me to start to realize the importance of being uncompromising in doing what I want out of life.

My main worry was about having kids and that since I’d have them so late that I’d be too physically decrepit to do things with them as adults. My dad had me at 33 and he wasn’t able to go with my mom and I to Peru or Canada because his knees are shot. The fear of that happening to me is still sufficient to get me into the gym three times a week.

In assessing my life at 30 I feel the most fortunate for my relationships — my wife, my friends, my parents, my peers, my God. All of them.

The area I think still needs the most work is my professional life. I’ve been spoiled working for the Peace Corps and the Marijuana Policy Project. I had jobs that weren’t always the best fit to my skills, but that I really believed in. If grad school has served no other purpose for me, it has shown me that I absolutely abhor work that I don’t believe in.

It takes these moments that, one way or another, will go flying by and it wastes them.

So, my goal is to find a job that is both technically and spiritually satisfying.

I have a five year plan that is the best idea I have currently for finding that mythic job. All it requires is restructuring the internet, subverting the university system and replacing capitalism. ☺ (I couldn’t really come up for a way for me to have this job without making it possible for lots of people to have this job, so that’s how the plan works.)

Since it’s a big plan, and I very likely haven’t got all the details worked out, I am going to try and run it by Slashdot in a couple days. I’m building a FAQ so it makes more sense.

The FAQ entries will be blog posts so there is a separate comment area for each. So, you might ignore this blog for a bit since there’s going to be at least a couple dozen entries. At the end of adding the FAQ, it’ll go back to normal.