Today is the birthday of Langston Hughes. He died before I was born; his legacy is the words he left behind. It is a legacy so powerful that he's a trending topic on Twitter today.
My favorite Langston Hughes poem is Dream Deferred
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Deferring dreams is a common experience, frequently born out of necessity and sometimes because we feel we don't fit in. Langston Hughes knew this well. As a child, he lived with his grandmother as his mother traveled to look for work. He was an undergraduate at Columbia University, but left before graduation because he felt more at home in Harlem than on campus. It wasn't easy to be an African American at an Ivy League in the 1920's. He finished his education at Lincoln University, a historically black college near Philadelphia. With the exception of travels, he maintained his primary residence in Harlem for the rest of his life.
Given the need to earn a living, the gaps that frequently stand between the job we want to do and the training or experience we need to do it, it is common practice to defer a career dream. It's easy to understand why we do it, why it happens--and how what we want to do moves to the "b" list. It's a part of life.
Last Friday dream jobs were the main topic of discussion on Hire Friday, a weekly Twitter conversation using the shared hashtag of #hfchat. (You can catch it every Friday at noon EST; the conversation is facilitated by Hire Friday Founder Margo Rose (@hrmargo). It's a great opportunity to get job search advice, exchange ideas, and build community. I highly recommend it.)
If you want to see a career management professional get flushed in the face with passion, ask them about their feelings about dream jobs. There are some who feel they must be pursued no matter what, others who advocate exploring creative ways to integrate personal interests with market demands (check out @heymarci and her approach to Slash Careers), and some who say dream jobs are a luxury--you have to pay the rent first.
Opinions vary on how essential dreams are, but I think we can all agree on one thing: No one likes to have their dreams laughed at or dismissed. It is important to share dreams with people you trust, to keep them sacred. As Yeats wrote in his poem Cloths of Heaven, "Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."
Sharing a dream online can be tricky. If you are already employed, it may not be prudent to let your employer know you are looking--or that you want to do something else. If your dream requires a time commitment that may make an employer uncomfortable, they could dismiss you--or decide not to invite you in for an interview.
If your dream is a reach, you also need help to achieve it. Online communities like Hire Friday, Career Hub, and Career Chat are places that can help; so can your friends. In that vein, I am pleased to announce that I am working with StartWire, a social collaboration platform that allows you to create your network of 5-10 friends. Unlike much of the social web, StartWire is private by design. Through StartWire, you can share your interests, dreams, and job targets with a few trusted friends. Since most people know an average of 600 people, you may find that you can get the leads and feedback you need from your small worlds as opposed to a larger one. Take a look and let me know what you think; I think StartWire is one way to share your dream--quietly.
These are my thoughts on how to avoid a dream deferred, what are yours?
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