Day 66-- Follow the dreams of your childhood

I have great news!  I am now interning for the biggest book publisher in San Diego!  It's a start to finish company.  An author sends a query letter to them, then a manuscript if my publisher approves, then there's the editing process, the binding process, the cover design process, and finally the marketing and selling process.  They also do ebooks and have partnerships with smaller publishers who use their warehouse. 

Book publishing is one of two fields I may pursue for the rest of my life (the other is magazine writing). This will be my first taste of book publishing.  This is my first foot in the door of this business.  I want to intern for a magazine once it's over and make a decision once and for all which of the two industries I want to work in.  Regardless, I'm really thrilled for the opportunity and the exposure into this book world. 

I admit that I have some doubts, and these are all due to my mother.  I called her up yesterday and the conversation wen something like this:  My mom: "[deep concern] I'm happy for you, [confusion] but I don't understand why you would work for free [annoyed that I have a degree and no job]."  

There are two ways of responding to this.  The first way is agreement.  Yes, she's right.  I have a goddamn college degree and that should result in a paycheck better than a high school drop-out's.  Yes, she's right, it seems silly to enter a career with such low pay and with zero opportunities in San Diego (this company is made up of only 5 people and it's the biggest in the city of San Diego).  

The other way of responding is defensiveness.  (A) This is the time in our lives to make our childhood dreams come true. (B)  My mother worked at one job for 30 years and was able to retire at 48.  That job paid for a boat she bought at 20, and a house she bought at 23.  And for most of those thirty years she actually enjoyed it.  But once a long long time ago she dreamed of becoming an architect.  If my mom was 22 years old in today's world with an architecture degree she'd be just as unemployed as me.  She'd have to intern for years, do grunt work for years beyond that, get a mentor, and finally, many years and being poor later, get to be an architect.

The moral of the story is this: dreams take time--especially during a recession.  If I want to be a book editor one day, this is the first step.  Once I'm done with this internship I'll have contacts, letters of recommendation, and better resume.  From here I'm much more likely to get a job at a publishing house, or at the very least, grad school.  And more than that, I'm trying, which is more than some people who settle with jobs just for the money and give up their passions (my parent included).    

A fortune cookie I once got with some Panda Express chow mien read, "Follow the dreams of your childhood."  I am.