The Dreaded Question What are you doing now?

I’ve had a ‘real’ job since I was 15, when I went with my friend Jeanne and landed he dream job at Walt Disney World! (nope, I was not the Mouse…too tall.) Food Service. I worked at Coke Corner, slinging hot dogs. When I had the opportunity to leave my really good job at Best Buy, I had no idea how much of my identity was wrapped up in being a part of that community! You know the one….the “what do you do”…and the answer is ”I work for….”. 

The 1st couple of weeks were easy. I could answer the question, “I was 1 of 500 people that left Best Buy in the worst macro-economic times ever!” and people would just nod their heads. I imagine they were thinking “wow, I wish I had a vacation”.
Then, a couple of months went by.

Now, it was beyond the catching up on rest, calls, and projects you’ve ‘always wanted to do’ phase. So, I tried these out.

• “I’m the CEO of the house”
• “I’m writing a book”
• “I’m trying to figure it out”
• “I’m starting a revolution”
• “I’m running for office..nope, haven’t decided which one. Just office”

Then, I remembered, one of my fav books. The Art of Possibility. Chapter 1.  It’s all invented.  That means my identity is invented too. I remembered I was doing a LOT of things. They just didn’t fit in a box! Thank goodness!  I’ve been griping about putting people in boxes for years, and realized I put myself in one!

So, I tried this answer on for size.
“I’m picking up the kids, doing laundry, figuring out dinner, cleaning up cat puke, calling the plumbing guy, picking up dry cleaning, stopping for coffee, scheduling coffee, going to yoga, checking fights to Florida, sneaking in a run around the lake, volunteering on Move Across America day at my daughters’s school…oh, and writing a book, being a part of the solution…all before lunch.” 

What are you doing now?