[I tend to think my sis has no doubts about her neurology career. Yes, she wonders if she should focus more on academic research, or on developing a private practice. But she’s at the hospital 80 hours a week. She’s living through it, both when it feels rewarding and when it feels like shit.
Then last week we chat, and she says she has a name picked out for a juice stand. Her biz plan: Warm fruit juice. Don’t diss it till you’ve tried it, she says.
Warm up cranberry juice, and it’s a totally different, totally yummy experience, says sis. No one else is doing this, so she’d have a corner on the market.
I don’t give a shit about juice sans vodka, cold or warm, but I’m a bit shocked to find out my sis has been fantasizing about a lil juice stand biz that has nothing to do with medicine. I mean, being a neurologist’s a goal that she’s seemed single-mindedly focused on pursuing since grade school.
“I have a lot of little business ideas,” she says.
My sis says she’s focused on med stuff now because, if you’re gonna do medical work, you gotta decide early. Her take’s that if she decides being a doc’s not fulfilling her soul, she can then choose to undertake a new career — in juices, perhaps. The reverse — going from juice gal to neurologist — isn’t as easy.
We live a long time now, my sis points out. We can have multiple careers. We can change our minds mid-life and do something completely different — and have the time to see that new, different thing through.
Compelling, but if I felt juice was my calling, I’d start juicing ASAP. In fact, if I spent my 20s and 30s going through med school then residency then specialty then whatever in med practice — working gruelling, soul-crushing hours which my sis says leaves no time or space to take part in life and community outside the hospital — only to find out at 40 that I wanna get the hell away from medical life, I think I’d face deep regrets about the way I spent what people call the prime years of one’s life.
If what I wanna do is juice, I’d rather juice starting now, is what I’m saying.
But I don’t know what I wanna do. And now, I find out that my sis doesn’t really know what she wants to do either. Not only does she think juice’s fascinating, she also has some ideas for a product design firm, making things leaner and meaner, basically. And she really does have a lotta small biz plans. Medicine’s a passion, but not a career set in stone.
This is v. tough for me to wrap my head around, just because I know my sis works way harder than I’d ever be willing to work — 80 hrs a week? WTF? — right now. The fact that she does this AND says that she doesn’t know if this is indeed the career that she’s set on is mind boggling to me.
[more later]
arent you ever thinking of doing something else?
everyone has thoughts of other things to do, now?
so i am not so shocked
ever tried warm blueberry juice?
the real stuff not the american ;-)
then stuff it with vodka
you wont fell the taste of vodka
xlnt way of getting plastered :-)
and then we have glühwein.
warm wine with spices, vodka and sugar.
great stuff, at least when it is cold weather.
vodka with cranberry juice,
old finnish recipe, good both cold and warm.
in swedish called wolfs paw
Comment by Johan — May 6, 2007 @ 6:36 am
Unless your brain is on autopilot (recognizable by the fact that FoxNews is your favorite show ;), you’ll always have other plans besides your main job. I know nobody who’s not thinking about one or the other. The only thing you can do is pick one, run with it, and evaluate from time to time….
Comment by Robert 'Groby' Blum — May 6, 2007 @ 11:27 am
I don’t think it’s useful to judge the paths other people choose to take.
Comment by Anonymous — May 7, 2007 @ 10:46 am
your sister wouldn’t be human (read: automaton) if she didn’t daydream about doing other things. sadly, at 80hrs a week, she’s one of the lucky ones. nevertheless, if neurology is really her passion, when she gets to the next phase in her career she’ll really enjoy it. and then could still open a warm juice bar later on down the road. it wouldn’t be a waste, as long as she enjoys what she’s doing, during the time that she’s doing it.
or, next year she’ll open a juice bar.
Comment by lag2 — May 7, 2007 @ 11:22 pm
I totally see your point. I think what happens to us when we are younger is that we follow a passion that we think automatically equals career. Dreaming is fun, but since 80hrs a week is a large amount of time to devote to something, it should be something that winds up being a real commitment. (It’s like dating — why put in a lot of effort if it’s only going to be a one-night stand or a short term relationship?)
Like you I dedicated myself to a career in my 20′s and early 30′s only to find that it wasn’t what I want to do. The beauty in stopping and realizing this, though, is that a whole other world starts to unfurl and push us in never-thought of directions.
ps. I could totally see you writing and lecturing on environmental issues both in the corporate world (as a consultant) and the educational…
Comment by Katie — May 8, 2007 @ 9:30 am
It’s tough to fairly judge as an outsider what benefits someone may be getting out of what they are doing. Your sister will probably experience things she would never have had the opportunity to experience had she not pursued medicine. Those things don’t necessarily have to be career-related. She could be finding things out about herself–what her strengths are, what she likes and dislikes. No experience is wasted. It’s probably a bit condescending to assume one way is the right way.
Comment by Mel B. — May 8, 2007 @ 11:01 am