This entry was posted on 1/31/2006 4:51 PM.
Today, the last day of January 2006 has quite a bit of news you could be reading–such as tonight’s State of the Union and Coretta Scott King’s death this morning. Yet, here you are reading my blog. And here I am writing it.
So to make this first one interesting I will answer one question quite a few people have already asked: why real estate?
There are quite a few jobs in the world where I could be “fulfilled” in the way I grew up thinking work is supposed to be. To do this I would have to work for a non-profit entity such as a school, church, social service agency, or activist organization helping humanity to learn, worship, or improve its lot and/or the state of the world.
I started questioning this singular view of work three and a half years ago. It began when my mom took me with her on the vacation part of her sabbatical. Since this sabbatical was fully funded by an outside for-profit company, she could spend money without a ton of worry. So while we were visiting family we also went to the movies and to an aquarium. Every day we did something new, and that stark contrast with my previous experiences helped me realize how much of my life had been dictated by my parents’ incomes.
That summer I also went to a meeting of the General Board of our church and noticed how much leadership and energy lay people (non-ordained members) gave. Quite a few very kind, thoughtful people owned their own businesses and made nice incomes doing so. Their businesses gave them the freedom to be active in their religion and to not worry about their careers being affected by other members’ opinions of them.
When I returned to school in the fall I noticed that the school’s benefactors were able to shape the educations of all students by funding chairs. By giving a large enough gift, one could determine what kinds of teachers and thus what kinds of courses and programs a school had.
After the events of that summer and fall I became inspired to take up a career that generated enough income to have a comfortable life and change the world. First I had to explore the “secular world” a.k.a. “the evil abyss where everything depends on money”. I went to career counseling and got a list of jobs that would fit my personality and interests. When I tried out real estate I realized it is a great fit. It allows me to help people with meaningful aspects of their lives: their homes and investments, while also teaching me how to run a business. After two years I now know that work in the “secular world” can reflect my values and hopes for humanity.
Comments
1/31/2006 7:34 PM Yukari wrote:
Moshi moshi Sachiko Sensei! Looking forward to watching your site fill up with stories about life. Ganbatte kudasai.
1/31/2006 8:10 PM Kate Nelson wrote:
Moshi moshi Yukari Sensei! Arigatou! Ganbatte imasu.
1/31/2006 11:09 PM whitney and reed wrote:
sweet kate!
love the blog…so glad to hear more of you and how you are. we’re just glad you became a real estate agent so that we could:
1. have really good fights the neighbor’s can’t hear
2. play our music/movies really loud
3. find a real estate agent to keep around forever!
Perfectly written and expressed. We agree wholeheartedly…cheers, our friend!
whitney and reed
p.s. maybe we should’ve responded in japanese?!
2/1/2006 8:25 AM Scott W wrote:
Welcome to the blogosphere!
2/1/2006 9:45 AM RHale wrote:
Kate, more more — I will look forward to your next entry.
2/1/2006 9:53 AM viki wrote:
Beautiful articulation of your values and hopes.
2/1/2006 9:55 AM glenn wrote:
Great explanation of your pilgrimage to now. And told with a sense of fun. That’s Kate!
2/1/2006 10:11 AM Kate wrote:
Thank you all for your support of my first blog ever! This is amazing!
2/1/2006 2:09 PM Stan wrote:
Kate
What a great way to start! I look forward to more. SB
2/2/2006 5:32 PM Uncle Robert wrote:
great site–I really enjoyed it
2/3/2006 2:57 PM KimDay wrote:
Kate you are awesome! I can identify with the philosophical quandry you presented in this post and I enjoyed reading about your thought processes around it.
2/4/2006 12:56 AM Aunt Beverly wrote:
Gracious Kate, I didn’t realize you were thinking so hard when you and your mom were enjoying all those sabatical activities. Certainly while I was sharing time with both of you in the Big Easy I thought you were on vacation and were basking at the thought of non-cerebal activities. Oh no, as we were enjoying the antics of the apes at the Audobon Zoo… you were thinking. When we were at the Acquarium of the Americas being awed by the fragile, and harmonious interactions of both land and sea creatures…of course – you were thinking. When wearing 3D glasses and taking the ride of our lives aboard the Appolo space ship (with Tom Cruise as our IMAX Theatre guide)…you were thinking. And as you, your Mom, Aunt Joycelyn and I (perhaps mistakenly disquised as “competitive eaters”) slowly pushed ourselves away after over eating our share(s) of muffletta heaven and seafood paradise…you were thinking
I should not be surprised. Why should your adult life be any different than that of your youth? You have yet to outgrow your need to question “why” or “why not” or “how” or “when” or “where”. Indeed it makes sense to me. I encourage you to continue questioning, pondering and probing. Certainly humanity would be better served if we could look beyond ourselves and see a bigger picture. The view could be beautiful…I think!
2/22/2006 1:48 PM Lisa D wrote:
Love the article! Hope you make a million soon!