The Search Continues

We all face the same question, every day of our lives: How to spend our limited time on Earth in a meaningful, valuable way? Some people seem to have found the answer and go merrily about doing whatever it is they do with nary a backward or forward glance, be they hash-slingers slinging their hash or Doctors Without Borders saving lives around the world. Perhaps the latter seem more valuable than the former, but hey--even doctors gotta eat. The trick is to find something that we consider meaningful and fulfilling, and everyone else be damned if they don't agree.

Once again I am staring that question in the face and not liking what I see. Currently I co-own a consignment shop. This means that people bring us old stuff they no longer value which we try to sell for them, taking half the proceeds for our efforts and to cover the costs of doing business. After nine months of this activity I have not earned one dime for my initial investment of $500, or for listening to hours and hours of yammering from customers who have nothing better to do than root around antique shops looking for something that will make them happy, if only for a moment or two. Good thing my husband does work that pays.

But the bigger question is this: Did I really go to school for a dozen years, followed by college for another four, and then slowly work my way up in several careers as a graphic designer, artist and writer, to end up selling used furniture in rural Maine? Is this really my highest and best use? Surely there is more for me to accomplish in my remaining years, and I think it's time to find out.

So long, Great Stuff. I will leave it to my partner who didn't go to college for anything and seems to thrive on the thrill of making a few cents on selling an old, used sofa or some chipped dishes that she says are "worth a fawtchun, you have no ideer!" As for me, it's back to the drawing board.