5 career tips from Peter Pan himself

Yes, I played hooky from the blog last night. BUT, that's because I was busy getting career advice via an informational interview (of sorts) with a real pro. This guy: 

That's right folks. Peter Stinkin' Pan, himself, in-the-flesh. Granted he was played by a (very talented) high school student, as were all his friends...and I paid $10 to get in...and it was a school-sponsored event...

But regardless of the fact that I really just went to my old high school's spring musical rendition of Peter Pan, I practically was blogging in my seat. So, here's what ol' Pan has to teach the Generation Y brand of "lost boys (and girls)" about figuring out what we want to be when we grow up: 

1. Don't lock (all) your windows. So maybe it would have been wise for Mr. and Mrs. Darling to lock their children's windows before they left them alone with their dog-nanny for the night. But they didn't. And boy did those kids have an adventure! A lot of the time it's good to keep your "windows" open. Being receptive to different life opportunities is generally a positive thing that could just lead you to your destiny...or maybe even a career ;-)

However, we all know that we can't leave every window open. I know that there are certain windows that closed, for example, when I decided to get married at age 21. Decision-making doesn't just depend on my personal factors, but the hubby's as well, which does pare down our options a little bit. But it's a trade-off. Choosing the marriage window has its advantages and its disadvantages...but for me the advantages make it worth while. Remember that time I had that career? This principal applies there as well. 

2. There's something about being a child that grows you up. I find it ironic that Never Land serves as a stepping stone for the Darling children on their way to adulthood. They have an adventure. They try out different social roles that they might end up filling in their adulthood. They have their first real experience without their parents. And eventually, they return to the real world where clocks tick (inside and outside of crocodiles) and people age, and they age along with everybody else. They have the option to stay children forever, but, because they are equipped for adulthood and have seen the alternative, they decide to grow up. In the real world, I think this is the equivalent to one's college years and/or early twenties. There's a window of time there where you can have adventures, be away from your parents, and not quite have to be grown up yet...but when it's over, it's over. And you move on...even if you aren't always sure how.  

3. There's something about being a child that can make you very afraid of growing up. The story of Peter Pan makes me sad for a while after each time I hear it. When Peter returns to see Wendy when she's older and she has forgotten how to fly, has a husband and a child of her own, and refuses to go back to Never Land, I get a little teary. Peter never wants their game of make believe to end. He has been happy pretending to be the father of Never Land, as long as Wendy pretends to be the mother...but he doesn't want to do it for real. Only if it's make believe. Peter has to realize that Wendy isn't going to play pretend anymore because she's got the real thing. Peter then takes Jane, Wendy's daughter, to Never Land and we see the cycle begin to repeat itself. 

I can't tell you how many times I've felt like Peter during this time of transition. I do feel like I'm playing grown-up sometimes. I'm married, I have an apartment that comes with real bills, and I do real grocery shopping, real cleaning, real life-planning, etc...but then I'll run into somebody I went to high school with, or I'll catch up with a college friend, and those people will just seem to be real grown-ups in a way that I'm not. They're out there with apartments, bills, and all that other good stuff too, but they're solving world hunger, or negotiating a better health care system, or getting paid to be artists while they're at it. I'm still just trying to find enough part-time jobs...is it because I'm afraid, like Peter?

4. Flying is easy, but it does require fairy dust. When I was little I used to always try to be magic. I would seriously sit in my room and try to move things with my mind like Matilda, or transform common objects into totally awesome swag like Cinderella's fairy godmother. I also would try to fly. I'd sit on my bed and, Peter Pan style, think the happiest thoughts I could conjure, hoping, wishing and waiting to levitate. Needless to say, it never happened. Then, during a long afternoon of my magic-training regimen, I finally realized that it doesn't just take happy thoughts to fly. It takes happy thoughts and fairy dust. 

Don't worry, I'm not going to hop back on my pessimism train again, but it is reassuring to me that it's not all gumption and optimism that makes the kids fly. There's also an outside element that needs to be present. I'm not saying that hard work never pays off, just that sometimes it doesn't, and it's not necessarily all your fault. Maybe there just isn't enough fairy dust to go around right now...or something like that. 

5. Youth, joy and freedom. Peter yells these words as he reveals himself to Hook for their final battle...but I always feel like it's just a bunch of bravado. I don't think that Peter's life is all that simple. He has Wendy and Tinker Bell competing for his attention all the time, a huge group of rambunctious lost boys following him around, pirates constantly trying to kill him and his friends, and lives in a place where racism and stereotypes run rampant ;-). Most of all, he's rejected by Wendy in the end and is forced to start his never ending cycle all over again...and who knows how many times he's done it before. He doesn't even know how old he is. 

Many stories featuring an immortal character are complicated like this (jeez, just look at the lives of all those immortal vampires sitting on the shelves of adolescent literature sections around the world). You initially think escaping death is some sort of ultimate goal, but somehow the weight of responsibility, growing old, maybe having a sub-par career, and eventually death are choice over remaining young forever. So I don't buy that line, Peter Pan. Maybe silly jobs that simply pay the bills aren't so bad after all...

Well, after talking with Peter Pan last night, I'm thinking that while growing up might not be all its cracked up to be, trying to avoid the inevitable is a much worse way to live. Even if getting older means part-time jobs, constant pinching of pennies, and a healthy lack of direction (at least for now), I'd take it over Never Land. How about you?  

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