The Quiet Front Yard

Since last posting I have returned to Iowa, found my own apartment, and taken up a job in insurance.

I have stumbled upon the quiet front yard. That peace and stillness that we are all supposed to be striving for.

Yet it has left me unsettled.

I am unsettled by how quickly I snapped back into my consumer therapy self, something I thought I had left behind in college.

With my dad gone I thought I wanted stability. But I want something that takes me to the next level. In my career, my habits, my life. I know that I need to keep getting out there and collecting stories. Meeting people. I don’t know if I will end up doing that as a journalist or as a social worker but either way I need to keep being engaged with unique people.

In social work you get jaded by the fact that every single day you meet real life heroes. Tireless social workers who give everything they have day in and day out and homeless drug addicts who are learning how to save their friends from overdosing.

I miss that.

Social work isn’t all butterflies and rainbows. It can have some pretty terrible moments.

But it’s helping people. The very essence of humanity.

Journalism wasn’t my major in college but I’ve learned from my dad to see everything as a potential story. That eye for shining light on the seemingly mundane and seeing complexity, that is something I want to further develop.

I’m not sure what my next step is, though I do know that I am committed to staying in Des Moines and being a part of what is happening here. I want to keep discovering what this city has to offer. Like I said, an eye for getting past the seemingly mundane and seeing more.

(I didn’t edit or smooth this out. I’m sure it shows. I just wanted to get something out on my blog again. Perhaps this will help get the creative juices flowing. So, basically, hopefully this isn’t a crippling blow to any future career in journalism.)