It's been a couple months since my last blog post. I'd like to say that this is because I have been spending all my time doing something life changing, but it's really just because nothing too exciting has happened.
The shutdown... ok, that was pretty exciting. But other than that?
My boss asked me yesterday if I had decided that working on the Hill was something I was going to pursue after my stint here so far. I replied, "I don't know. I don't think so..."
He then went on to tell me how he always knew he wanted to end up in DC, and asked if there was anywhere I knew I wanted to be.
Again, I don't know.
Right now, I want to go everywhere. I want to live in LA again, spend a few years living in the bayou of Louisiana, maybe become an expat in Paris. But settling down? That seems ridiculous to me.
But the truth is, I am in my twenties. Decades before me, people would be married and starting families by the time they reached my age. And here I am, halfway through college, not even sure if I'm majoring in the right thing. I like to think my situation is unique, but there are a lot of people like me out there.
Then yesterday, I decided to pick up a book specifically about people like me. It is called The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter by Meg Jay.
A lot of people my age dream about "wanderlust" and traveling to Europe or Africa to discover themselves. But as I'm reading this book, I'm learning that a lot of people my age are wasting time and just delaying things like starting families and getting married. Granted, some people don't want that at all, but still.
The author talks about "identity capital," which is our personal assets, or "investments we make in ourselves, the things we do well enough, or long enough, that they become a part of who we are."
Our twenties are about getting as much identity capital as we can, so we can use it to develop a stable life. As fun as traveling around Europe to discover ourselves may sound, we can't really use that on our resumes. (I'm not saying you shouldn't do it- by all means, travel away. But then come right back and get down to business.)
I don't know what I want to do with my life, but I recognize the value in trying different things until I find one job that I really like. I may not want to end up on the Hill when I graduate, but who can say "U.S. House of Representatives" won't look good on my resume?
