The Wizard Series Part I: An Analog Wizard in a Digital World

I want to be an analog wizard.

That succinct phrase came to me on my 35th birthday, the day I finally figured out what I want to do with my life following my Air Force career.

"What do you mean by wizard,"  You ask?  Hold that thought for now.

Everyone asks about their own purpose in life.  I've been asking since August 1990, mere days before I started college, during a trip to Pennsylvania Amish country.  During the trip my friends and I had a pleasant encounter with some Amish teens roughly our age, and it was the encounter that led me to ask myself, "is my purpose in life to be happy regardless, or is my purpose to find happiness in abject success?"

Arguably the whole problem started as early as high school, when this self-described "B-type with a work ethic" ended up in a Magnet high school surrounded by high-achieving A-types.  I've always believed A-type behavior is the quick road to unhappiness and death, but my philosophy served me no good when I was getting thrashed academically and creatively by my peers.  I mean, my laid back attitude combined with a "measure once, cut once" approach to school (i.e. I never studied more than I felt necessary) set me up well for college, but compared to the driven 1600 SAT types I was lowbrow.

Furthermore, when I thought college, I thought "what will I be happy doing?"  Meanwhile, my peers were asking, "how do I earn money?"

I picked history, while my peers went to pre-med, economics, business, communication, and comp sci.

I loved studying history, learning the grand tapestry of human achievements, the research over pots of coffee, the smell of old, dusty books and the the feel of artifacts. Thankfully, what I learned about research and detail has served me well in the military, and I think I'm well-compensated for my work.

Meanwhile, my peers went off to be doctors, lawyers, economists, programmers, and creative types, and are doing very well for themselves (such as that Sergey Brin guy). 

So if I'm happy and I don't grudge my peers, what's the problem?

I'm still analog in a digital world.

By choosing personal happiness over marketable skills, I' started worrying about my future. I can retire in 6 1/2 years, but there's not much of a market (that I can tell) for people with my experience unless I'm in Washington D.C., Colorado Springs CO, or San Antonio TX. 

I don't want to live the rest of my life in any of those places.

Periodically I'd search Monster, USA Jobs, Clearance Jobs, and even Oregon Jobs (the state where I want to retire), but the jobs were all the same:  they wanted people with digital skills.  Programmers, database admins, program managers, MBAs, Medical and Law school grads.  I'm obsolete.

It doesn't help that I'm still applying for a USAFA-sponsored PhD.  For me that's the pinnacle of my professional dream, and a full ride is so close I can taste it.  It'll also incur some more service time, extending my career another 10 years.  But then what?  I'll still be facing the thrall of the digital world with an analog degree.

However, every time I consider expanding my skillset--taking courses, starting an MBA, even starting a new Bachelors--the little voice in my head asks, "why?  Is it to make you happy, or just to make you feel secure and earn you more money?" 

I want to be happy, but when you have a family with a mouse who starts hight school next year the latter question is a strong motivator.

But look at me as a person, too.  My longtime readers know I eschew many digital conveniences.  I don't carry a cellphone, I barely watch TV, have a kitchen of mostly hand-powered tools (we didn't have a microwave for 7 years.  By choice.  Alas, this house came with one).  I don't get the hoopla over the iPod and iPhone, don't want to be wired in 24 hours a day, I read the newspaper daily (yes, paper) and will cry the day books are replaced by silicon.  A colleague questioned my sanity when I started blacksmith classes.  And the ultimate irony, I love my research on virtual worlds but don't actually enjoy playing in them.  Blogging is the only Web 2.0 application I enjoy, mostly because it's simple and it's for showcasing my analog thoughts, not my digital prowess. 

In other words, I'm also decidedly analog on a personal level.

And that's when it hit me:  "I want to be an analog wizard."

Maybe it's because I turned 35, maybe it was an early New Year's resolution, maybe all the thinking and pondering finally paid off.

Or maybe it was the moment I realized I want to be happy and don't want to learn a new skillset just to make a buck. 

I want to expand on the skills I already have and cherish and forge my own trail (pardon the blacksmithing pun).  I want to write books and build worlds,  I want to rekindle my old passion for art, I want to create objects from wood, fire and metal.  While the rest of the world rapidly morphs into a distributed, download-ready media experience, I want to remember what it's like to create singular objects one can experience with all five senses (or six, if you wish).

I want to make the life I want--indeed, the life the Hummingbird wants me to have and share with me--and damned my own or society's preconceived notions of what "rich" is.

Or as I always like to say, "when I die and my life flashes before my eyes, I don't want to see the inside of a cubicle."

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Comments

[Sam Tresler]

I don't get why making money and being an analog wizard are mutually exclusive? Many highly successful authors still use typewriters, some use legal pads and pens. There are still swordsmiths out there that get $50k per sword they produce.

Not to mention there is a growing demographic of people who don't have an analog mindset, and need access to analog information.... who do they call when they can't google it? And isn't that worth some money?

This seems doable. Why were you worried?

[The Mad Pigeon]

I'll be addressing your question in Part V of my essay (the conclusion, that is).

;-)