My unpredictable career
Struggling with a difficult career decision, or lacking direction? You’re not alone.
I’m sitting in a park surrounded by conversational birdsong. Some high-pitched trills, some chirping, others louder and more insistent. One has landed on a branch above me, its song a happy celebration of life, serenaded by the melodic warble of a magpie and another hooting, rhythmic call in the distance. I smell the morning freshness and an invigorating scent of pine and eucalyptus. Patchy clouds that look like finely pulled cotton wool are moving gently across the sky, allowing the calm blue to filter through.
An empty playground and scattered tables are lingering evidence of weekend activity and picnics — it’s a weekday so most people are at work, their children at kindy or school, and the deserted park transmits a sense of timelessness as a feeling of freedom sweeps over me.
The park is my office. With a thermos cuppa and my laptop, I’m working on an assignment for a graduate certificate in science writing with Johns Hopkins University to augment my recent venture into freelance writing. As the leaves dance gracefully to a gentle, warm spring breeze that still carries a hint of the crisp morning, I reflect on how I reached this episode of my career.
Published on Medium.
