take-root

observations

Choices

I’ve been thinking of that old thing Kierkegaard said, about creating ourselves through our choices. I look at that every day as I walk out the door, so I think on it a lot. And the truth of it becomes more clear to me every day. 

It got me to thinking about how all the little things in our lives build upon one another to become the big things, and how each incremental choice makes a difference for who we become today, and later on, too. 

And this got me to pondering about all of the weird, seemingly unrelated jobs I’ve had in my past. It’s quite a list. But they all seem to have gotten me where I am now, in some strange, circuitous way. Which is the way I like it, I suppose. 

So, some jobs I’ve had, in no particular order:

Produce display person at an urban organic farmstand. Best part was collecting fresh eggs straight from the coop, and coordinating the colors of things like chioggia and golden beets. 

Voice-over artist, though I’m still not sure what the art is here. It’s just my voice.

Almost-assistant to a beekeeper. I even researched buying a beesuit. This is my favorite almost-job. 

Masters of Fine Art program assistant. Too close to this still to say anything profound.  

Self-employed making handmade cards. And gift-wrapping for people who don’t want to. 

Pet-sitter to countless animals, one of which, named Charlie, I was required to make fresh salmon for at each mealtime. 

In-house illustrator for a boutique grocery store. 

Personal driver and errand runner for a mostly blind, retired college president. 

Accounts manager (and sometimes delivery-girl) for a start-up organic produce delivery business. 

College Admissions tour-guide giver, until I got Mono that summer and hardly worked at all. 

Interior design consultant. 

Ghost-writer for someone I’ve never met. 

Shopgirl at Anthropologie. Later a Display Coordination intern there. 

Personal assistant to an extremely eccentric man, who wrote an entire book on the creation and evolution of the bikini. And a book on different cultural food blessings. Odd combo. 

Housecleaner for a variety of individuals, one who only ever had Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream and string cheese in the fridge, and another who has a cat named Wendell.

Personal assistant to a high-power financial advisor who commuted to LA everyday and sometimes asked me to come watch her daughter at 4am when she left for work. 

Personal assistant to a woman who has impeccable taste in linen, candle scents, furniture, and buys sets of sheets for retail therapy.  Mostly I folded sheets with her, talked to her while she cleaned out her closets, and sat around while she did her taxes—my presence was simply so she would feel accountable to doing these tasks. 

And finally, the latest: Events coordinator for Kinfolk Magazine. A new endeavor near and dear to my heart. Excited to see where this one will lead. 

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