DREAM JOB

Brian's on the verge of getting his dream job I think. No, his dream job is not booking me, traveling with me and baby-sitting me. Go figure. His dream job will unite the things he's better than most people at (talents) and the things he cares about most (passions). And he could get paid for that!

Seeing Brian's dream appear on the horizon like this has made me wonder what mine is. It's not traveling the country making music. I love that, and I'm thankful for and more than content with that, but it's not the best I can imagine. But what is?

I like to repackage old ideas with new metaphors and applications. I'm not bright enough to reinvent the wheel but I have miraculous moments when I'm able somehow to make a wheel that people pay attention to. It's rare but I can't help smiling when it happens.

I have flashes of dreaminess when I speak to crowds or small gatherings of Christians about what it means to be a Christian. I love teaching. I'm not the best at it but I enjoy it more than making music these days. But not just relaying facts, but finding ways to provoke and inspire. It's hard work for me, takes hours of preparation and even then I'm rarely satisfied with the results, but in spite of the dissatisfaction teaching's still my favorite thing to do - besides eat TexMex of course.

I get excited when I write articles for magazines like Worship Leader or CRW or Campus Life. Again, I think that has to do with teaching and the interaction that happens afterwards through the blog and mail.

Speaking of interaction, I wish I could just spend every day talking to people about ideas and life in general. I love poker night when I just chill with friends and talk and listen and laugh (and win their money). The hang time after concerts is my favorite part of most weekends. I like discovering people.

I love big picture theorizing and strategizing - taking a problem and working with a team to brainstorm solutions. Some of the most satisfying moments in my life have been the collisions of lots of people's ideas to make one great idea better than the individuals'. To walk away from a meeting with a better way, with a new way, with a plan - as dorky as it sounds - does it for me. I want to make things better or make things possible that were thought impossible - and I want to do that with a team.

I get excited when I think about joining people in need - physical, emotional, mental, spiritual - with people who can meet that need. Finding a benevolent doctor for a sick person who can't pay. Guiding concert goers to a Compassion International table to save a kid's life. Answering questions an agnostic has about faith. Helping someone in Uganda or a crisis pregnancy center in Houston find financial support. I like connecting people to what they need - especially when getting what they need will help other people get their needs met.

The only thing I don't like about traveling is being away from my family. Traveling in moderation - six to eight days a month - keeps my family healthy and my addiction to seeing new places satisfied. But I have to travel for a good reason. I get pumped about traveling to a place I'm needed, to a place I need, to do something of value. I don't like vacationing as much as I enjoy flying to Ecuador or ElSalvador to learn and work. I want to get my hands dirty and not just talk about the world "out there" and how much help they need, and how much they have to teach me. I want to do it. I want to go. That's the kind of traveling I can into.

Does a job that incorporates all this even exist? Well, if you've got one to offer I'd leave music today (after fulfilling my promise of making a live CD of course) to take it.

What's your dream job?