There’s a lot to be thankful for this week. Even the little things that you can’t appreciate right away, if spun in a positive way, can actually be quite a source of happiness and thrill. For instance, singleness. I’m struggling with the disease blessing of singleness, and I have to say that the more I think about it, the more I realize that it gives me the flexibility and independence to live life and enjoy it to the fullest…by myself.

Okay, maybe it doesn’t work so well for singleness. But, honestly, if most of us stopped to take a look around and actually soaked in the blessings of our life, we would have plenty to truly rejoice and be thankful for. Small things add up. The turkey that your mom has poured her heart and soul into brining and making on Thanksgiving Day. Having family and friends that we love and cherish to celebrate the holiday’s with. Having the ability to even afford a proper Thanksgiving meal, which is by no means a cheap experience.

One of the most important life principles to adopt in any given situation is to have a positive outlook on life. No one likes a debbie downer, and living the life of one is a very painful and anxiety-filled existence. Instead of looking at all the problems you are faced with, I encourage you guys to embrace all the wonderful things that are happening on a continual basis.

As for us, we are off until next week (Monday November 30th). We will be gobbling away at turkey over the weekend, gain the typical 5 lbs over the holiday season, and enjoy the company of all our friends and family.

I am truly thankful for all the support of our readers so far, and ask that you guys continue to help us get the word out about The Postgrad. Have a wonderful thanksgiving.

What are you thankful for today? Let us and the rest of our readers know!

This is my first post in response to a post I’ve stumbled upon in the blogosphere. After graduating college, you might find yourself experiencing the shrinking social bubble phenomenon so it’s only natural to re-consider for yourself what it means to be friends with and express care for others. Jenny Blake at the blog Life After College poses the idea that the expression of care through the overflow of your own feeling is part of what it really means to live your life to the fullest and be fully human. That very well may be the case for her, but it is definitely a different experience for me.

I’ve been called cynical and heartless because of my characteristic ‘skepticism of feelings’ approach when it comes to my treatment of human relationship, dating or not. I don’t see this as a bad or good thing. I believe that feelings play a certain role in our lives, allowing us to glean a superficial ‘gut’ reaction that can move us quickly to action, but only through rationalizing and or dispelling that feeling can we understand the best course of action.

This means if a friend comes to me for advice, my feeling is to be very straightforward and disregard his feelings. If I really care for my friend and want to help him through a situation as quickly as possible, I have to help him take the best course of action. My first step is to lay all feeling aside so I can clearly think. For me, to care means to understand and act. Sometimes, feelings line up with rational thought and everyone is happy in the end. Other times, it’s not nearly as cut and dry.

I have to be compassionate. I realize that not everyone is like me; in fact, I can safely assume everyone else isn’t like me so if I treat everyone as I personally would like to be treated, I would come off as an insensitive prick and not have any friends, even though my motives are still for the greater good. Doing something I consider harmless could very well make someone else think I hate them. As a human being living amongst other human beings, I have to account for these pesky things called feelings in other people, flash a bit of the sensitivity that helps me keep my friends around and handle my relationships rationally but oh-so-delicately. We’re all different and might rub others the wrong way, but compassion serves as a good buffer. Even though I might be skeptical of your motives behind your display of compassion, I can’t fault the compassion itself.

So how do you personally handle your relationships? What sort of behavior frustrates you the most? How have you made peace with said behavior?

What’s something you’ve always wanted to do but never had the ‘cojones’ to try? Get a tattoo, go skydiving, take a road trip across the United States of America – whatever it may be, we’ve all got a bucket list of things to try that just continue going unchecked for various reasons. Your reasons may very well be valid but your desire is still there, untempered by time. In fact, maybe some of you feel that the desire has INCREASED over time. So how do you get to a place where you can take on these new and probably exciting endeavors? (Excluding all illegal or non-beneficial activity. We’re not here to encourage you to kill your neighbor’s cat or something sadistic like that.)

1. Do some research. Figure out, from all possible angles, the implications of your endeavor. Ask yourself whether or not you’re being reasonable. Talk to a couple friends you trust about what you want to do and if they’re aghast, reconsider. Google it. Lurk around a forum until you get a better idea of what you’re really in for.  Sit on the idea for a week and see how you feel about it then. Basically, absorb as much information as you can and don’t be biased about it. Learn the consequences as well as the benefits. Try to get your mind wrapped around the entirety of the endeavor and if you’re still not fazed by it, move on to step 2.

2. Let it be known. The best way to not back down from something is to vocalize it. From the highways to the byways, let it be known. Hype it up. Verbalize it. Let as many friends as you can know about it and pretty soon, you’ll be in a hole where you’ll just HAVE to follow through with it. Your pride is on the line and boy, shame and peer pressure can really kick you in the butt when you’re letting yourself dwell on second thoughts. You’ve already thought it over and understood the commitment and the consequences, so why not just GO for it? The only thing holding you back is yourself.

3. Partner up. Get someone to do it with you. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve uttered the words, “I’ll do it if you do it!”, only to follow through with something I kinda, sorta, half-heartedly wanted to do but didn’t have the guts to do alone. You’re obviously already smitten with the idea; you just need someone to come along for the ride. If you can convince yourself, you can certainly convince someone else. Once you’ve got that partner in crime, you’re both going to feel enabled and excited about the prospect of finally taking on one of your lifelong challenges. Congratulations! At this point, your task is as good as done!

With that being said, I’ve just signed up for NaNoWriMo with two of my good friends. If you don’t know what the heck that is, here’s the rundown. It’s an annual contest held through the month of November. The task: write a 175-page novel (50,000 words!) by midnight, Novemeber 30. You can only write through the month of November. It’s not a content-driven contest; it’s all about output. I’m already assuming my content will be convoluted drivel that I’ll never be able to seriously look back at but when else am I ever going to attempt to write a full-length novel? So here goes nothing. Who’s with me? Sign up and add me (myclue) as your writing buddy!

What are some things you’ve never been able to try but are willing to attempt now?

Have you ever had that friend that thinks he’s good at everything he tries? One week he’s a songwriter/musician, the next week he’s a screenwriter/film director, and the week after he’s a graphic/fashion designer? If he really were capable of being such a renaissance man, then he’d be an instant success. Researchers would put together case studies dissecting his work ethic and creative drive. Women would be fighting to get impregnated by him to pass on his superior genes for the greater good of humankind. But in all reality, he’s just a flighty mediocre soul; a jack of all trades and master of none.

So this situation poses the question: at what point does amateur hobby become viable career choice? If we’re supposed to pursue what we’re passionate about in life, chase what makes us happy, then shouldn’t those pursuits be our career choices?

Yes and no. It’s truly a matter of your ability. If you’re good, go for it. If you’re not, it’s better to stop while you’re still ahead.

We’re at an odd place in history where motivated self-starters can pretty much accomplish anything if they’ve got the talent and drive to back them up. Comedians can become ridiculously famous on YouTube. Independent musicians can get signed to major labels because of their MySpace music page. Writers can blog and self-publish themselves to mainstream success. I don’t know if it’s because of my proximity to Los Angeles, where everyone is an aspiring something-or-another, but the far-fetched notion of thinking your typical ‘hobby horse’ can lead to ‘career choice’ in the blink of an eye isn’t so far-fetched.

So what’s a healthy attitude to take? A dentist doesn’t first practice dentistry on the side by extracting molars from cats with toothaches. A neurosurgeon doesn’t get his first taste of neurosurgery operating on epileptic birds for fun. That would be animal cruelty and PETA would have their balls in a vice grip if they tried. Be real with yourself. If you think you’ve got what it takes to make a career out of whatever hobby horse you’ve been pursuing, then put yourself out there for criticism and go through the necessary training to hone your craft. Sometimes what you are doing to those around you constitutes animal cruelty and you don’t even know it!

I don’t mean that you should quit pursuing your passion just because of a little criticism. Not everyone is going to love you even if you are good. Check out the predicament rapper/producer Kanye West is in right now. He’s clawed his way to the top of the music game, he’s become an international trendsetter and fashion icon and yet he’s probably one of the most universally hated men in the entertainment business. Go figure.

What I am advocating is a healthy approach to your pursuit. It is completely okay to just like to do things on the side. You could very well be good enough to scrape by a meager existence chasing your dreams, but that doesn’t mean that’s the right thing to do. You could just as easily find a comfortable and bearable job, make good money and continue the pursuit of your dreams on the side. Personally, this blog in and of itself is a little try at grabbing a piece of the pie. So here goes nothing!

So what are some of your dreams and how are you actively pursuing them?

In light of the release of Spike Jonze’s new film Where The Wild Things Are and Sam’s recent post about determining your career path, I thought it would be fitting to open a discussion about our childhood aspirations.  When we were children, we didn’t exhibit any of the restraint characteristic of adulthood.  We let our imaginations run hog-wild and we could be anything we wanted to be.  The possibilities were endless; you could be a cowboy, a firefighter, a cop, an athlete, a dancer, the President of the United States or The King of Forest Monsters.  It didn’t matter.  If we could imagine it, it was within reach.  Some of us might have forgotten what it’s like to be idealistic.  Let’s use this exercise to step into our past and re-imagine what our aspirations were before our dreams were squashed by the weight of reality.

My personal dream was to be a professional baseball player.  Not just any professional baseball player but a hard-throwing southpaw closer, brought in only during the most fragile situations to determine the outcome of the game.  I chased that dream all through Little League baseball and was pretty good but I was sort of a late bloomer and after a while, I just couldn’t physically compete anymore.

What about you?  What did you dream of doing as a kid?  Comment and get entered into our Google Wave Invite contest!

Image courtesy of jaredchapman