“We were given two eyes for a reason. One to see and experience every day, and another to keep watch on the horizon.”
These were the words of an old Irish veteran I met during a trip I took backpacking through Ireland, and they still resonate with me today.
I am all about living in the moment, and enjoying every day as it comes, as many people are. I also recognize that it is easy to allow that to become a sort of excuse to avoid thinking about the future, and I put a great deal of effort into making sure I do not fall into that trap.
You don’t need to plan out your entire life to the letter, and create a timeline for when you want to get married or have kids, but it is both healthy and helpful to have general goals and ambitions, instead of just expecting life to take you where it takes you-at least, professionally.
Personally, I know I want my future and career to include graduate school in the near future, getting involved in industrial/event design work eventually, and becoming a professor somewhere down the line. These goals are specific, concrete ideas that provide me with drive to keep improving and growing. I want to get into a good MFA program, so I work at improving my basic skills and craft. I want to get involved in event/industrial design, so I read articles about them and create folders of my ideas. I want to teach, so I want to learn as much as I can now to be the best educator as I can. Each goal does not weigh me down as some fixed point on a timeline; they inspire me to reach for them when the time is right.
Not only does looking to the future provide me with motivation, but it reinforces my commitment to what I’ve chosen to do. I believe that if I can so clearly see these things I want in life, and the fact that they all lie in my chosen career, that what I am doing is working. I am on a path with things to look forward to.
Thinking about my career in this way has also inspired a pet project of mine, that I know is far off in my future, but I am excited about (Project: Outside the Lines- keep reading this blog and one day I’ll explain it!).
All that said, carpe diem. If life offers you an unexpected opportunity, seize it. Be fluid and confident in your goals, but don’t ever let them stop you from doing something extraordinary. I encourage you to take a moment to think about what you want, professionally and personally, but don’t put a clock on those dreams.
Keep one eye in today, another on the future, and simply watch where you are going.
"Maiden's View," Ireland 2008
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