the number 4
I have an exceptionally short attention span when it comes to my career choices. So much so that i seem to change what i do every 4 years or so. I always integrate and build upon what i did the previous four years, of course, but the rotation process always brings something new.
I think something new is on the horizon. High school lasted four years. So did university. Another big four doing emergency aid work in the early nineties followed by another four of development aid work after the war. Then came four years jumpstarting the grassroots social business stuff with Green Visions which led to another 4 into travel writing for Bradt, Thomas Cook and whatnot. The travel writing and my grassroots eco-tourism experience opened up some doors for me to become of freelance consultant in tourism, environment and sustainable development. 4.
Hmmmm......4. My brother was born four years after me. My sister 4 years after that. When she turned 4 we got our first dog. When we left New York :( we moved to Port St Lucie in Florida where i lived for, yup, 4 years.
Back to here and now.
Things are in a slight lull at the moment. I'm broke. Which i find quite liberating at times. I am doing a few local consultancy gigs with the EU. I have a half a jillion things in the pipeline...including a son :). But still have no idea what tomorrow will bring.
I've applied for a few new jobs. Feeling the need for a tad more stability as I approach 40. What stability means don't ask me. One job is an EU funded tourism development project - one that I think i am easily qualified for but slightly dread because its means digging in and working within our wonderfully dysfunctional 'institutions.' The other is a position with the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), working on economic development in protected areas. I think this is where I'd like to be. I believe with every spec of my being that ecology and economy can and must function. I am utterly convinced that this stunning yet traumatized country can be an eco-tourism powerhouse in southeast Europe. I know that we must find another way forward.
I've dreamt of working with the likes of Greenpeace or WWF. Being with my peeps.
So I keep my fingers crossed. And trust the universe will continue to lead me where i need to be. So it goes.
