Resumes set a baseline for what you did or did not do during your career. They are an outline to look at, but they don’t represent the true color and story of a person. People are so varied in their journeys. On paper a resume looks like a linear timeline of someone progressing forward to an inevitable end. 

In reality the journey of each person is so unique, with unexpected tangles, messy dead ends, and looping again and again through situations that weren’t planned. 

The older I get the more I’ve grown to appreciate that people have so many wonderful, intangible, fantastical, beautiful, abilities waiting to be discovered and appreciated. I’ve seen colleagues rise to the occasion when needed, I’ve seen others fall out of favor and be seen as unfit for the team; I’ve also been in both of those situations myself. 

There’s something more nuanced here that I’m only starting to uncover. There are so many reasons why someone does well on a team, and why they fall short. I hope I’ll have compassion for these differences and look at ways to support others through the crazy journey of life that we’re all on. 

For myself I try to take care of my health, be in a good mental state, and understand that there are rhythms to work. Some days I’ll have it and be full of creative energy, other days I’ll feel more empty and need to recharge. If I didn’t have the requirement of making money, I’d undoubtably want to create things for the sheer wonder of doing so, and for the joy I’ve seen them bring to others in giving my abilities toward a thing that will benefit others.