Life plans

I've been getting the "what do you want to do with your life?" question a lot lately, and I thought I'd just summarize my thoughts here so I can have a definitive record to laugh at when I'm 30 and actually have a job that's completely unlike what I'm describing. Basically, my future can be boiled down into three competing (and not necessarily mutually exclusive) post-grad plans, which each have a story arc that follows logically from them. So, without further ado, I present Rachel's Grand Conspiracy to Save the World, Find Love and Happiness and Learn to Make Some Really Cool Hippie Foods, Guys.

plan a: journalism


post grad: Find a journalism internship or job, preferably with a lefty magazine that does quality investigative reporting (oh hey Mother Jones/oh fine, High Country News, you're pretty legit too).

where this goes: Become a freelancer or get on the investigative team of an awesome publication. Expose toxic waste, corporate greenwashing and how the world's actually going to hell way faster than people think. Get better at multimedia, take awesome trips and report on them, have a really cool blog.

how my whiny liberal ideals do: Rest comfortably in the knowledge that I'm bringing the truth out into the light of day, rest less assured in the knowledge that I'm making suffering into a form of pornography for white upper class people and that my livelihood depends on other people having to live through wars, rape, famine and environmental destruction. Eventually become cynical and bitter, but join a food co-op and feel better about myself.

how I live: With a small garden, but that's probably it. I wouldn't have the time to have a full agricultural operation, do a community garden, knit or any other handicraft type things. I probably have a car that's fuel efficient ish but not great. I probably fly a lot.

changing the world: Not directly. But potentially non-directly in important ways.


plan b: become an actual hippie


post-grad: Move back home and do Wilderness Awareness School's Residential Program. Spend the year learning about tracking, yurt-building and a ton of other useful life skills. Work at Safeway on non-school days, get food stamps and debate whether or not I can afford raw milk.

where this goes: Possibly into one of the other life options, but I get super involved in community gardens, the local food scene, co-ops and the like. I quit Safeway but continue to work in hippie grocery stores like the Madison Market Co-op. I get some chickens and some goats and have raw milk all the time. I make most of my own food. I blog all the time and maybe write a book about the grocery store industry that a bunch of upper middle class white foodies buy so they can feel guilty and laugh at my stories about crazy people. I don't have a real job because I don't really need one.

An alternate plan, plan 2b, would involve a brief but illustrious career in somewhat illegal resistance measures, after which I retire, disillusioned, or wind up in federal prison for the rest of my life. So there's always that.

how my whiny liberal ideals do: Feel amazing and happy much of the time, but live with a nagging worry that I'm not doing anything to change the system, and a nagging knowledge that opting out of problems doesn't fix them. Somewhat reassure myself that teaching kids how to garden is probably super-worthwhile, and that I'll be able to take care of myself after peak oil decently well.

how I live: No car, and killer legs from biking all over Seattle. With neighbors who are also hippies or who hate me because of the goats. I probably have a composting toilet, and I make some awesome kale chips. I use the the words "commons", "co-op", "community garden" and "industrial capitalism" a lot.

changing the world: Not really, but teaching the interested and privileged in it to live better, and prepping us all for the crash. Seriously, it's coming, guys.

plan c: international development

post-grad: Do the Peace Corps, which is a catch-all term for "live in a developing country for a few years and do some type of development project". Probably not the actual Peace Corps, though. Probably something more like permaculture or eco-stoves.

where this goes: I get really involved in some cool project and want to stay in that country. I spend 5-10 years traveling around the region I'm working in and doing on-the-ground development work. I start to miss my family and start a nonprofit or business which will allow me to keep doing what I want but spend some time back home in Seattle too. Possible alternate: I get burned out, go to grad school and spend my life teaching idealistic undergrads about politics and the environment and why everything is really, really screwed but life is awesome anyway.

how my whiny liberal ideals do: I feel good because I'm "helping people", but I spend a lot of time worrying about capitalism and neocolonialism and why I'm spending time telling other people how to run their lives when there are very real problems with poverty in the United States. I also have a huge carbon footprint from flying to Latin America all the time.

how I live: Pretty flexible schedule, lots of hard work. Abroad, I have a house which is very nice by local standards, with water and nice locally made furniture. In the US, not much of anything--maybe a small house or condo, maybe a car. I eat local foods abroad because that's what people eat in other normal countries, but I don't spend a bunch of time fermenting tea and learning how to make cheese.

changing the world: For some people. And unlike with plan b, they won't be the rich white ones, mostly. Small steps, but steps.


So there you go. This summer will be a nice crash course in plan c, with a bit of b thrown in there, but I'll talk about that another time.