"what do you do?"

if you have it figured out, you're one of the lucky ones. when we start off on independent living, we take a faltering step into the world. how many of us launch into exactly what we want to do? how many of us even know what that is? we grope, searching, spending our days in a grey cube and our nights exploring artistic pursuits. music. photography. painting. but those don't pay the bills, do they?

so to the question, "what do you do?" we are flummoxed, fumbling for an answer. "i...am a legal assistant." "a bank clerk." "construction." "i wait tables."

how can you answer that question without qualifiers? "i'm an admin assistant, but i play music." "right now i'm working in a cafe, but i'm a poet." or we make it into a joke. "a starving artist." or we evade the question altogether with some vague feint designed to distract.

after all, why should you be defined by what you do for money?

i understand. i've been there too. but that question serves a purpose. it should help you expand, not shove you in a box. people will respond to you based on how you answer, that is all. and if you can define yourself, think of this question as an opportunity, a shorthand to explain who you are.

so let the question guide you. at every cocktail party, every awkward pause, every stranger's introduction, let yourself grow into it.

what do you do? anything's possible.