I took a girly getaway to Prague with my friend, Shannon. It was wonderful because it was this no-stress trip where we had these really deep conversations about what we want to do with our lives and careers, where we want to live, the importance of travel and living! It was pretty intense. From all of this talking, I have come to several life-altering conclusions! They will be reported after the following pictures, just to keep you on the edge of your mouse!
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| It's always good to find out what's at the bottom of a staircase like this. |
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| First, she rolls out the dough and then puts it on to those spinning wheels to make a yummy, cylindrical pastry treat! |
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| Terrifying statues - check out that hand reaching out on the guy on the right. Yipe! |
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| A little market |
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| Charles Bridge |
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| View from the bridge |
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| All are gingerbread hearts at the Gingerbread Museum! |
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| I just really liked the colors and patterns of these two buildings, together. |
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| My adopted son and new best friend. At dinner, I said, "I want to find a marionette. It's an investment for my life." Shannon had to stop and call attention to that bizarre sentence. |
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| Getting ready to be packed |
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| Yes, that's a huge marionette next to me. |
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| I spy original, Czech Charlie Chaplin advertisements. |
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| Ready for Prague nightlife! |
After the trip, I have never felt so motivated! It seems like everything is coming together and my career aspirations are more clear and on track. Here is what I realized:
1. What I love about librarianship is not the technical aspects of cataloging and metadata, but, rather, the promotion of the library. This makes so much sense to me because, although it seemed like such a drastic career shift from music management to library and information studies, it's really just about promoting something I love (music to books).
2. I went home to NYC for a quick, last-minute trip (more on this, later) and was able to squeeze in visits with almost all of my friends. It was so nice to see all of the Mean Girls! They are so inspiring. Most are in creative industries and talked about all of the progress they're making and all of the exciting events they have been to and the new developments they have coming up. It made me consider my own career path and what I could do to steer it in a direction that would be creatively fulfilling.
3. I think there is a not-so-obvious connection between punk rock ideals and libraries and librarians. The library promotes this concept of accessibility and free information for all! See what I mean?
4. I have never regretted not finishing film school, but I have wondered what movies I could make.
I was, recently, at an event for library professionals. There is this recurring story of a librarian of some form or another being at a party and someone says, "What do you do for a living?" and then, all of the librarians in the room sigh and roll their eyes because if you say, "I'm a librarian," then, people think you just sit around reading and stacking books. My attitude toward this is, why should anyone be obligated to know what exactly you do at your job if you don't tell them? If someone told me they were a scientist or a doctor or something, I might picture the wrong thing if that's all they said. Either tell someone what you do or leave it at that and get over it. I'm tired of librarians who complain about stereotypes, but don't do anything about it. So, here's what I plan to do about it:
5. I want to make a documentary about what it means to be a librarian, now, and innovative librarians, starting cool, new projects and companies in NYC and Brooklyn. There are so many exciting changes in this field and I think people should know about it. I want it to be relevant to info professionals, but, also and especially, people in their 20's and 30's, who may not be as interested in libraries and their services. It will look like a music documentary or punk rock movie because I like that all-over-the-place style and those are the ones that inspire me.
6. There will be a photo book to go along with the movie, to be released at the same time. It will be like a coffee table book with pictures of all the people in the documentary, with interviews and quotes from them. I also want to add a bunch of stuff I've learned and advice I've gotten from talking to library directors on my European travels. I think it will be great. What do you think?
7. In order to do all of this, I need to move back to NYC in August, which is bitter sweet, but I can't put these ideas on hold any longer than I have to.
