Tomorrow is December 5th! You know what that means?!?!?!? The last day of the 3rd semester of MPA school! YAY!

SO today, I’m going to introduce someone who is super special to me. The GF is gracing us with her presence and has composed the last in this series of guest posts. (Yay for me getting lots of work done!)

Eysqueen is one half of the creative chaos that exists at Cubicle Crusaders, and is a cube captive by day, superhero by night (her words, not mine, lol).

Enjoy!

-M-

PS: I’ll be writing again next week. I hope you’ve missed me!

For some of us do-gooders out there, we learned the hard and dirty way that the corporate America that was fed to us in childhood isn’t a one size fits all.  We tried it, we did it, we may have even succeeded at it, and then we got over it.  We learned that “money, power, and respect” makes a catchy lyric in a hook, they even taste good in our cereal, but nothing can satisfy that void we have within ourselves that seems to grow every year that we aren’t doing what we are meant to do.

My void started the day I checked the box that said “Computer Science” on my college application.  It was a little void, something the size of a period.  No biggie.  I managed to patch up the void by my second semester when I filled out the form to change my major to “Art/Visual Communications”.  Yeah I was on track after that, void filled, right?

Not so much, as I pimped myself into concentrating in graphic design.  The void grew by leaps and bounds as the pimping turned into manufactured pimping by companies using my talent for their commercialism.  Okay I started to step on my soapbox about corporate America killing the artist.  I’m not ready to stand that tall yet, so I’m stepping back down.

So anyway, I ran from graphic design as fast as Marion Jones without the enhancements (I still believe she was set up and is still one of the fastest women in track and field).

I floated around and found myself in places, doing things that I didn’t know I was good at nor had any previous desire to do. I accidentally found my purpose while flipping the bird to “the man” and corporate America.  I did something that wasn’t glamorous, that didn’t pay well and was all around thankless from the outside looking in.

I taught computer technology to children with behavioral problems.  Talk about a challenge!  But the challenge wasn’t them, it was me.  I’m known for not liking kids, I’m known for shying away from teaching, I’m also known for rising to the occasion and flexing my skills when slept on.  Basically I did it, and I liked it.

Happy ending, right? So I got my teaching license and am living the dream? That would be the easy way, my fellow readers, and easy doesn’t make for a good blog.  No, I got lured back into corporate/ government by the big bucks I had the potential to make by teaching adults computer technology, instead of children.

I was going to be a superstar technology trainer. I was going to have the super big office, and the newest toys.  I worked my way to the top, but I didn’t have the strength to reach far enough because of the void.  The void sucked up my muscle tone. I’m all fat and hot air now.  I stopped exercising my talents; I opted for the easy way, which was not the best way for me.

However, I’m still young, and I have a lifetime of mistakes and oopsies left in me.  I’ve been saving up while doing my time in my “safe” profession.  I’m so ready to make more mistakes and just live.  Being in the wrong field has helped me to concentrate on what is important to me, what I value, and what happiness looks like.

For me, happiness is not corporate America.  Happiness is being in the trenches shaping the mind of a future adult.  Happiness is flowing creatively, and painting and writing.  Just for me, not for a corporate dream.

Happiness for me is living life everyday and doing something that means something.

I am an artist and I reject the cube life.

I want to be my own boss and work with kids and be a counselor and be 4 other different things all in one lifetime.  And anyone who has a problem with it can swivel their ergonomic computer chair to one of the 3 walls in their cube and take a time out to think about how wack they are.

And anyone who applauds, I’ll see you at the coffee shop with the rest of the idea makers, first round of lattes on me!