Jig Dancin' for Dollas

From the time I was a child I was taught about the importance of doing well in school so I could grow up and "get a good job". So during my educational endeavors I always tried to picture myself as a gainfully employed "fill in the blank". Whatever I imagined involved me wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase on my way to my job at Snoozeville Incorporated. As a child these imaginings seemed normal. I figured it was what all grown ups did because I never saw or heard of any other option.

Now I am in my mid-thirties. I've had "good job" after "good job" and have been miserable on every last one of them. My saving grace arrived two years ago when it occurred to me what I really wanted to do. That knowledge lead me to return to school and now I have a definite plan. Though I am very excited about my future, there have been plenty of naysayers who are caught up in what I like to call the "good job mentality".

As a state worker I am supposedly afforded health care at a reasonable cost, a fairly stable job (despite over a year and a half of furloughs), and a decent retirement providing every last cent of those funds do not evaporate by the time I'm sixty two. And while this job is alright for now, I know my purpose and it doesn't end with me retiring from this place twenty five years from now. For some reason when I tell black folks of my plan to leave the state in about two years, they become bug-eyed, throw up their hands, and say, "You can't quit 'yo good job"! I can't even begin to express how disgusted this makes me or how disheartening it is to know that my own people can't see my vision. I completely understand the importance of job security and the paramount nature of saving for retirement and I would never be stupid enough to just leave a job with no plan in place. However, there is more to me and in me than what I'm doing now and my purpose cannot be found anywhere in this place.

For years our fears and self-imposed limitations as black folks have kept us from taking the risks necessary to reach our individual success. We are afraid to die and even more afraid to live. In between the two, we work crap jobs because that's what we've been taught to do. Though I'm sure the ancestors mean well, I firmly believe what we should be telling our children is "educate yourselves and create your OWN way". The time has come for us to stop stifling our own growth because we are afraid to jump off the ledge and fly. I don't think I'm better than anyone and I don't think I'm too good for this "good job"but I believe we should encourage one another's dreams and help one another reach them.

That said, I will NEVER tell any niece, nephew, or child of mine to get a "good job". I want the upcoming generations to aspire to be more than the status quo - even if that means leaving a really "good job".