Life in Spain: Find a way to do what you love!
Quick update: WE MADE IT TO SPAIN! After a summer full of hikes, bikes, and kayaks I couldn't feel more myself. Being able to dabble in a variety of roles and experiences is definitely how I was built to walk through the world. The through-line that tethered this summer together was 'get paid to do what you love.'
The old adage "If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." has be minced and repurposed from Confucius to Marc Anthony. This might seem like a rosy way to skip-out on the responsibilities of 'adulting', but aspects of this just aren't realistic.
Doing what you love is a great idea, but what happens when what you love changes or you change? Giving yourself room to grow might mean changing scenery, switching careers, or seeking opportunities to advance in a space you already love. Then, what if you can't find something you love? "Making up" our minds is more difficult now than ever before with the wealth of options available in our ever-growing, globalized, and inclusive world. Sprinkle in a few daily comparisons via social media and buyers remorse for the lives we've chosen seems inevitable in small things and all things. All this begs the question: Do you have to LOVE what you do?! For tons of reasons I'd say the answer is a resounding NO. Some people keep a job they hate to have the life they love. Other people don't absolutely love their work (I'm not sure if anyone does 100% of the time), but as long as it gives them more than it takes from them why not stick around. It's safe to say that most people fall somewhere between loving their work and typing up their two weeks notice every other weekend.
For us, this move has had so many things baked in that we couldn't see coming: for starters, the visa. Living aboard and traveling long-term has always been a dream of mine, but the visa process felt like a nightmare that quenched my optimistic joy real quick! I could have done without the random of fees, shifting requirements, and overwhelming uncertainty of the timeline. Other honorable mentions that I would have passed on include packing, moving everything we own into storage, and doing anything this big during a pandemic.
Nonetheless, without jumping these hurdles we would have missed Fiestas Patronales in the 'Plaza de Cervantes' that served as the perfect introduction to the area where I will teach and learn: Alcalá de Henares. So far this experience has shown me that I was really spoiled by this summer. I met so many incredible people at Wateriders and created tons visual content for Mappy Hour and on the Chicago Outerbelt. However, getting paid to live a life I love wasn't perfect. There were days spent biking hours in the rain and cleaning goose poop off of the dock after miles of hiking or teaching outdoor education with the Friends of the Forest Preserves, but the bitter bites bring out the sweet ones. I can't wait to see the same reflected in our year here in Spain. I won't make much money, but teaching, learning, and returning to Spain are three things I love and I'm glad I found a way to do them all at once.
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