Who.

A coworker I greatly admire and thoroughly enjoy working with (mainly because he introduced me to the phrase "amazeballs") asked me, "So what do you want to do?" In a moment of spontaneity, I gushed to him about my dream of one day becoming a sociology professor. The idea of conducting research about the world around me and fostering spaces in which developing minds can participate in fruitful conversations excites me. As a people driven, relentlessly curious, general athlete who is an extroverted introvert, I have known for a while this could be one of many career paths that would be incredibly fulfilling. 

But like I said, this is just one of many career paths I see ahead of me... After a ten minute flurry of words and the realization that maybe I should have somehow translated my dream job into my current company's landscape (because you know, we have a Learning and Development division... which he works in...), I walked away feeling uneasy. I'm at a fork in the road... scratch that, it looks more like an octopus with tentacles loosely waving in front of me, beckoning and calling me to choose an arm in the deep sea. (I really like ocean, deep sea, and water metaphors, similes, and analogies. Let it wash over you.)

There are many opportunities and roles that interest me. There's a reason why my last career path decision had me agonizing over the fields of public policy, technology, and advertising/public relations. For me, the "what do you want to do" question is stressful and, let's be honest, ridiculous; I'd much rather be asked "who do you want to be."

Five, ten, fifteen, even twenty years from now, I might be in a position that looks drastically different from what I'm doing and where I'm working now. I'm entirely ok with that. Remember how I mentioned that I was relentlessly curious? Well, in a nut shell it means that I'm reading about the history of different mathematical concepts, while learning HTML, while chatting with... a genius? a friend? a matching puzzle piece? (not sure which symbol really captures it... let's just call them a platypus) about the effects of gentrification, while dancing in my underwear to music in French, while flexing my event planning skills, while reflecting on upward management within a nonprofit environment. I'm people driven and care more about leveraging my unique set of skills and resources to help others, whether they're a teammate, a friend, a family member, or that stranger I have yet to meet. 

So, who do I want to be? I want to be someone who is mindful of the amount of space they take up in this world. I want to create ripples of love, joy, and happiness throughout the universe. I want to never lose sight of the beauty that is life, to continue to feel mudita, to never forget how important it is to tell others that you appreciate them. I want to love, to be loveable, and to be loved. I want to be that beam of support that holds up the family house, while being brave enough to ask for reinforcement when I need someone, something to lean on. I want to have the strength and resilience of my immigrant father, the kindness of my grandfather, and the too school for cool vibe of my best friend. I want to take risks, to be courageous, to runs towards the roar. I want to be sunshine and a drifting light that makes the darkness a little bit easier to navigate. 

So now it's my turn to ask you. Who do you want to be?