Even though I always figured I was going to become a writer, at least in some capacity, there was also a time when I thought I might become an architect.
As much as anything, this idea was my response to family pressures to "do something sensible" with my education and life. I had already formally abandoned the idea of getting an English degree at University, and was instead studying business because I had a lot of family influence pressuring me in that direction.
I wasn't actually particularly interested in business, but I decided to do it because I was pretty good at math and I was also pretty good at solving logic problems. That's business, right?
However, architecture did seem genuinely interesting to me. I even spent some time talking to the Dean of the architecture school at the University where I was, and wasn't terribly put off by the prospect of engaging in a 5-year plan. Why he even took the time to talk to me remains a mystery.
However, it was not to be.
In the end, it was the math and geometry part that put me off. Even though I perhaps wanted to pursue this direction, I also knew that my math and geometry skills were just not good enough. And I knew that I would struggle, even though I might be doing something I would enjoy.
Chances are, that if I had in fact gotten an architecture degree, I would have gotten the job that had something to do with my degree... like become an architect!
Instead, I ended up with my degree in finance which I have essentially never used for anything.
But here's the thing. Even though being an architect might have been a steady job I'm pretty sure I would not have had nearly as much time and inspiration to do creative writing the way I have been able to. And I think I would have regretted that.
Of course, my entire University education was a strange case of "things that were just not meant to be."
I never really meant to end up at the University of Texas in Austin; I was supposed to go to the University of Washington in Seattle. But some piece of paperwork got lost in transit and I would not have been able to start my course of studies UW during the same semester as my student Visa would have required me to.
So I ended up in Texas instead, where I eventually ended up spending more than 20 years. Ironically, I now live not far from Seattle where I originally had intended to go.
I try to stay philosophical about the fact that things didn't turn out the way I wanted them to, but perhaps things turned out the way they needed to. And, in the end, I ended up precisely where I needed to be when I needed to be there.
My point here is that we often wonder what would have happened and sometimes we even have regrets about opportunities we feel like we missed or didn't get to take.
While sitting with those regrets, what we often forget to look at is what happened instead, and what benefits we derived because what we originally thought was going to happen didn't happen. And sometimes we're significantly better off!
Maybe some things just aren't supposed to happen. And maybe whatever greater energy rules the universe knows better than we do.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great friday!
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Created at 2024-03-08 02:13 PST
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It would have even been better if you engaged in architect fully since you have not really used the other degree that you’ve got
I believe you were exactly where you were meant to be at each cycle of your life story. No regrets! You followed your life's path just the way it was meant to be. :-)