LIVE YOUR DREAM & SHARE YOUR PASSION.

hello all!  there have been some AWESOME new developments in the scarano-isbouts household!  i could give you the short version... but instead i think i'll use my evening wisely and post the long version (multi-tasking while i watch game 4 of the stanley cup finals, of course, so excuse any typos!).  and if you don't want to hear it all well, then, don't read it :)

so quite a while ago, i decided i needed to do something different with my life.  not that i don't like my job; i actually enjoy it quite a bit.  i work with great people, i enjoy my customers and i am never bored.  but it's definitely not quite what i pictured myself doing.  the one problem with my job is that i don't get any fulfillment out of my job - i don't go home thinking that i did something good at the end of the day.  the beginning of my journey began when i was reading what is the what, which i highly recommend everyone in life read (for a link to amazon.com where you can buy the book, click on the clink under 'i pledge to read the written word).  it's a dave eggers novel - but really it's a true story told through the eyes of a sudanese boy who lived through genocide.  and after reading what valentino achak deng went through on a daily basis, it really put my own issues in perspective.  so i decided halfway through my book that i couldn't be one of those people who just did nothing.  i need to do something to help make the world a better place, however meager it may be.

after lots of research and discussions with my super-supportive husband, i came to the conclusion that my perfect career would be working for a non-profit.  sure, i'll take a pay cut, but it will be at the expense of doing something i am passionate about and making a difference.  that's the big motivator here.  but how does one go about making that change?  the answer is that it's gradual; it's a process and not one you can take lightly - at least not at this point in my life, being a home-owner and all.  so for me, right now, step one is going back to school!  starting in august i will once again be a college student.  i'm going back for public policy, a specific track of a political science degree.  it's a good one for non-profits because you learn about the ins and outs of local and large-scale legislation, which is where a lot of non-profits need advising.  and it's a huge plus that in this phase of my life i am very, very in to politics.

so to sum it all up...

my awesome girl laura sent this to me yesterday after stumbling upon it on another blog.  it sums up exactly how i want to live my life and how i would encourage everyone i know to live theirs.  life is too short to get caught up in things that don't make you happy - profit and loss statements, hitting those quarterly numbers, whatever it is that DOESN'T float your boat.  don't do it.  live your life for YOU.  and start today.  it's what i am going to do.  and it won't be easy.  i have nine credits in the fall and i'll still be working full time (which means a minimum of 40 hrs for me, usually more).  and on wednesdays, when i have my weekly 7:30am meeting and then will work all day, and go straight to a 5pm early political thought lecture until 8pm?  yeah, i'll want to give up.  but i'll look at this blog post, and i'll look at that picture above, and i will remember what is truly important in my life.

and if this has gotten you thinking at all, please visit these websites to learn a little more about the causes i am becoming absolutely enthralled with:

VAD foundation
olive branch

there will be many, many more updates folks!  but for now, that's what i've got for you.  so until next time... "open your mind, arms and heart to new things and people, we are united in our differences.  travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself.  life is short.  live your dream and share your passion."

until next time...
xoxo