Job-Ology

My mother has a wonderful friend who recently retired from a very big-wiggy human resources job after 30 or so years of steadfast devotion. My mother, being an uber-networker, was insistent that I get together with said friend before delving too far into my job hunt so she could help me refine, and snazz-i-fy my resume.

So, yesterday we had a hot date.

And of course, when I say "hot date", I mean two plus hours of me trying desparatly to articulate what it is I'm looking for in a job, a new location, the next five-ten years of my life etc. No biggie. My advisor was very patient with me and insisted that she's counseled people who are much more lost and confuzilated than myself. But I, for some reason, found this difficult to believe.

I was asked: Am I job-driven or geography-driven? I'm I the driving-spouse or the trailing-spouse?

Well, I had thought I was georgraphy driven until I stumbled across a post on idealist.org that screamed to me "I AM YOUR DREAM JOB, DUMMY". So, perhaps I am job-driven and just in denial. But who wants to live in Maryland? I mean, seriously. What do The Humane Society of The Unites States, The World Wildlife Fund, The National Wildlife Federation, and Defenders of Wildlife have against the idea of a west coast branch? Legislative hub, shmegislative hub.

And why, I ask you - why, is it so damn impossible for a person to enjoy life in a semi-rural environment and ALSO do something about which she is passionate? Why do the two have to be mutually exclusive? Am I the only anti-urbanite who is faced with this dilemna? Why do I have to CHOOSE between the comforts of home and the satisfaction of working for my favorite cause? Isn't this the freakin' high-tech age? What do you people have against telecommuting? You can't hug trees and save whales online? WTF?

So, apparently I am job-driven; I'm just closeted because I love mountains, bodies of water, peace and freakin' quiet, and I detest traffic, the smell of urine on pavement, excessive noise, and crowds. Sue me.