My Quest Continues

"I actually like the quest. The search. The more lost you are, the more you have to look forward to."
-ALLY MCBEAL

I'm not exactly lost. I'm in the general vicinity of happiness and self-actualization. I'm just a work in progress. During an episode of Ally McBeal, her therapist told her to select a theme song to describe her life. It has to be peppy. It has to pick you up. It has to have punch. I've always been a big believer of theme songs, and one song struck my senses with the intensity of Chanel Coco Mademoiselle perfume on a hot sunny day to describe my last day in Switzerland was this: "Otra Oportunidad" by Colombian artist Wamba.

On careers, a Swiss lawyer friend of mine had asked me why, since I spend all my free time writing (less) and dancing (more), I didn't consider a career in those fields. I couldn't tell him why at the moment, but then the answer came to me after some thought. When I dance or when I write, it is the only time I can feel free. When I have the impulse, I just have to express it. But if I am forced to dance, or if I must attach structure and deadlines to my writing, I begin to hate doing these things. It destroys the freedom. It destroys me. I learned to keep the artistic side of me a creative outlet rather than a living. If it is forced, for me, it can never be pure. It must come when it comes.

It is said that when there is some confusion about what career path you should take, you should go back to what you wanted to be when you were a little boy or girl...

We used to play this game in middle school. It's a game of chance, where among other things, you have to list your favorite prospective careers and such, and the outcome was supposed to bring together a unique combination of all your favorite things which would amount to your future. On this paper, I remember, I had my future jobs in this order - and now I understand why I chose them -

1) Pathologist (Intrinsically, I like to learn every little thing about a particular subject that interests me -- and some diseases do not have cures)
2) Psychologist (I wanted to help people somehow. And I was always, always interested in personality and the inner self)
3) Lawyer (I wanted authority and respect)

My mentor at IESE said that we choose our paths in life for a reason, and career changes shouldn't be taken lightly. Looking at this list above it was quite obvious why I went into Finance - the extrinsic rewards and the apparent power and respect, the exciting world of stocks, funds and M&A to satisfy boundless intellectual curiosity. Analysing a company now is just as exciting as researching a particular disease was to me back then. And that is why I chose Finance. Though it could have been, and probably should have been, Psychology.