In Search of What's Next

It's what most 20-somethings deal with at one point or another: what's next? We graduate from college into the Real World and most either know exactly what they want to do or have vague notions of general career paths. Most of my peers fall into the second category. Whether we're just now leaving our studies and various degrees behind or we're a few years into our first or second post-college career, there is an air of uncertainty about what comes next. Part of that has to do with the economy we live in and the scarcity of jobs right now but I believe a lot has to do with us figuring out how to marry our passions and dreams to the practicalities of life. In the film Revolutionary Road, the characters played by Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet are young and bristling with the energy and passion of youth. They are full of dreams. Kate's character wants to be an actress and Leonardo's character isn't sure what he wants to do but he knows he wants to be somebody, to do something great. I think that's how a lot of us feel. I had a conversation with a friend of mine the other day and she verbalized it so well: we grow up with the notion that we want to change the world or be someone of importance or greatness. We have issues that truly matter to us so how do we go about acting on those in the Real World, where loans have to be repaid, bills come monthly and day-to-day living requires a steady source of income?

That's why many of us go through a moment where we're not sure what's next. We're wading in the grey. For a good number of the people I know, it's off to graduate school in these uncertain times... more time to figure it out, to hone in on how exactly we'll make our contribution to the world. For others, it's a continuous search, jumping from one job to the next, crossing off what we know we don't want to do but still uncertain about what exactly we do want to do. At some point a decision has to be made to take the leap and go for it or shift gears and head towards the next that is familiar and certain. As 20-somethings turn into 30-somethings, the leap looks harder, a little more reckless and certainly uncertain. But who knows what would happen if we actually did leap. It may force us further from what sometimes seems like an ever-present grey.