Where I am going from here? Past is past, and past is prologue.

Photo by Jen Belisle

            Is it fitting that I am blogging today about my particular future on the day that American looks to its future and ushers in a new President and cabinet. The problem is that we cannot erase the past. I wrote in my last post that our past has landed us where we are at, and change is needed if we want to carry on. This is my story of change and where I am headed.

            This year culminates a 31-year journey through undergraduate higher education.  In 2001, while still working for Delphi Corporation, I decided that I would start making plans to not only achieve my undergraduate by my retirement, but also probably end up teaching and working in higher education.  I had worked in the theatre and assumed that at some time my degree would lead to an MFA in theatre.  My next interest besides theatre was the law. I worked part time for Pinkerton Security doing background checks in courthouses all over the state and really enjoyed the people and the work. I loved reading about case law, and took a few paralegal courses. So, I had two rather disparate interests that I felt would never intersect. However, that was when the Internet was in its infancy. Social networking was something you did at parties or singles bars.

            When you ask me what I will do with the rest of my life, the word advocacy keeps coming back to me. What is an actor? A performer? A representative? Then ask what a lawyer does? Advocacy, represent, perform. So without much thinking about it, I lucked into a job that allowed me to do mix advocacy with a touch of theatre.  The job was with IU Kokomo's Office of Communication and Marketing, and I started as a writer. I moved into being a photographer, and press liaison.  After that 2 years I ended up with the understanding that I had become an advocate for information coming out of the school.  How does someone represent an institution, a company, a product, or a group? That is the question I asked myself. The answer was to be an advocate for them in whatever media and form you can.

            I will be going to graduate school eventually, whether it is this year or a couple of years, and I still like the idea of teaching. But one thing is for certain, whether I become a PR practitioner for a school,a non-profit, a company or the ever-vilified lobbyist; I plan on being a good advocate, to represent. My journey is far from complete education wise. My past in the auto industry affects me not only in experiences I can repeat, but also helps me to avoid practices that I saw caused problems to many. It is a new day for me. Though they say past is prologue, I am looking forward, not looking back anymore. My new vocation is to represent those that both want it and need it, with a little theatre thrown in. Good actors know that acting is not lying. Good acting is representing the truth,  passionately, intelligently and thoroughly.