Article: Marci Alboher, on writing One...
Marci Alboher, on writing
One Person/Multiple Careers.
Around the time I abandoned a conventional career as a lawyer and re-emerged as a writer/speaker/writing coach, I realized that I was part of something much bigger than my own career change. From Bono, rock star/globe hopping humanitarian, to my peers who were mom/screenwriters, fitness instructor/corporate climbers, or entrepreneur/artists, increasing numbers of people were leading lives that could only be described with the use of slashes.
I wrote this book because I wanted to figure out why so many people were choosing to live this way. As I traveled the country interviewing "slashes," I found that these folks had a lot of smart things to say about how to weave together all the many ways we choose to spend our time and earn a living.
A computer programmer/theater director in Boston convinced me that having two careers need not make one a workaholic; a longshoreman/filmmaker from Philadelphia showed me how his incongruous identities helped him attract attention to his films; and a school teacher/real estate developer from Long Island taught me to see civil servant jobs as a striving entrepreneur's best friend. The more I spoke to these folks, the more of them I wanted to reach.
By the time I submitted the final pages to Warner Books for publication, my formal research had ended. But my preoccupation with slashes remains. I hope to continue the conversation about the whys and hows of setting up a slash life, a philosophy I am proud to champion.
These days, it's not the slashes who pique my curiosity, it's the people who can answer, "What do you do?" with a simple, straightforward answer.
Why do one thing when the current workplace offers so much room to experiment and transform? Why not take a starter career and use it as a springboard to something new? And why not build a work/life that speaks so directly to your unique set of talents and interests that you are the only person qualified for the position?
Copyright © 2007 Marci Alboher