How to love what we do

Today we had a fancy speaker come to college. She talked about what it meant to work in the public sector, to network, to go to a great graduate school and to have these credentials that makes one seem like a productive, capable, important human being.

It scared me.

Not because I don't think I can follow that path but because stopping me from actually wanting to follow that exact path she laid out to seem like a surefire way to making it big, was a little part inside of me that was telling me to do something I could wake up in the morning and feel passionate about. And that path, that structure was just not it.

So now as I sit and worry about what I'm going to be and do in the future, a random thought flashes in my head. This is actually a thought I've been mulling over for a while but now given the reality of growing up being plunged in my face, I'm realizing more and more that this world is not as easy as I once thought it was. No. Everything, almost everything, must be fought for. There has to be some degree of violence in claiming what you think it is you deserve.

That's what scares me.

I've always been a somewhat creative person. I love writing. I love reading. I used to play the clarinet. I absolutely love watching well-made movies. I love music. I love how all these different dimensions of art can make one feel so much closer to a divine power.

But I also love politics and world affairs. I love analysing the economy and understanding what went wrong or how things could improve. I love policy and I adore anyone who can appreciate the fine art of productive discussion. Most importantly, I love being able to bring in ideas, thoughts and resources from one end of the world to the other in order to allow social change and transformation.

I'm fascinated by social change. I'm fascinated and in love with ideals, particularly those that the Indian nation was founded upon because the founding fathers seemed adamant on preserving that sense of national values.

So as I sit now and think about how I can go about these three somewhat different passions as potentials for a particular occupation, I wonder about the other possibilities through which this beautiful intersection can be arrived upon.

I'm a little stumped for ideas. It's your turn. Anyone?