Innie wanted to know: What do you think the boys will be when they grow up (other than good men)?
I have no idea. Honestly. I think their main problem will be trying to decide and stick with something. My mum used to tell Harry and me we could be anything we wanted to if we put our minds to it, but that's the sort of thing mothers say; it wasn't really true. If your ambition's to be a world class surgeon or an astronaut or something, it's going to take more than most people have in them. Just a fact.
But Sherlock and Mycroft... I do honestly believe they could do anything they set their minds to. Mycroft has talked about working for the government. I'm not sure if he means politics or something like what his mum does. Sherlock has a new idea every day. I just hope they're happy in whatever they pick.
I have no idea. Honestly. I think their main problem will be trying to decide and stick with something. My mum used to tell Harry and me we could be anything we wanted to if we put our minds to it, but that's the sort of thing mothers say; it wasn't really true. If your ambition's to be a world class surgeon or an astronaut or something, it's going to take more than most people have in them. Just a fact.
But Sherlock and Mycroft... I do honestly believe they could do anything they set their minds to. Mycroft has talked about working for the government. I'm not sure if he means politics or something like what his mum does. Sherlock has a new idea every day. I just hope they're happy in whatever they pick.
24 comments:
I don't think either of them want to be a florist or an underwear model, though...
They have to narrow the options somehow!
Oh, and I'll ask you the same question I asked Lestrade today, John--did you have any celebrity encounters you could tell us about, defining "celebrity" as loosely as you like?
(Well, I got a blog post out of one such, it could work for you!)
I think it can be really hard if you are good at pretty much everything, to settle on what you will narrow your focus to. Especially if you don't have a clear vocation. I always envied people who had a drive from a young age to pursue a certain career.
I don't think either of them want to be a florist or an underwear model, though...
Heh. Almost certainly not.
I actually had a guidance counselor give me the "anything you want to be speech" after my high school class had taken one of those written/group IQ tests. Let alone the fact that those things are wildly inaccurate and I knew it even then, all I could think was, "Fine, I want to pitch for the Yankees."
And in the end, my profession found me instead of me doing anything I had studied. Go figure!
The other thing is that whatever they decide to do first doesn't have to be what they do for the rest of their lives. You're a good example of doing one thing for a while, and then doing something else for a while. It's not like the generation older than us who started a job after uni and stayed there until retirement.
(This from the person currently applying to go back to get a second masters degree and go do something else.)
I decided what I wanted to do as a career when I was 13, chose which O levels to do on that basis, went to college, got a vocational qualification, and then a job all based on that decision. It worked out well for me, and I really enjoyed that part of my career. Even though recently I've changed direction, that choice has stood me in good stead subsequently. But, I look back now and wonder how on earth I was so certain, so sure of what I wanted.
I think I must have been a bit odd as a teenager :-p
The most important thing to do to keep options open, in my experience, is to focus on what skills you acquire more than the job titles
I decided that I was going to be a librarian at age 12 and I've just finished my fifth month at my first proper librarian job. Before that I wanted to be a knight of the Round Table (not much call for that nowadays, though I do medieval historical recreation - including armored combat - for a hobby), an astronaut (too much exercise required), and a jockey (got too tall).
I'm well aware that such a fixed course so early is an anomaly, even among my friends. The brains the boys have on them and the connections, should they decide to use them, mean they'll be pretty set no matter what they decide on and they've certainly got some time.
Sherlock is at least cutting down his options by announcing which jobs he won't do.
Although that's basically any job he realises might have a slightly boring side to it...so he may be jobless forever. Except that would undoubtedly be boring too..
Did you manage to persuade Sherlock to keep the two minute silence today, John? Will you be going to a service on Sunday or will you be remembering in your own way?
If Sherlock's school is anything like mine they will all have been asked to be quiet... Don't know how much success Mrs T will have had. I think Sherlock would understand a bit though, and hopefully observe it even if he's full of questions later. Which I imagine John will cop.
I had to shut two of my officers up who were happily chatting away in an otherwise silent office.
I had two brief (one week each) flirtations with other careers (nurse and opera singer) and then I settled down and knew that I wanted to be a literature teacher/professor; I was six. And I ended up becoming a lit prof but had to give it up because I couldn't earn a stable living from it. And now I work in the financial industry, which I would never have predicted.
As for Sherlock and Mycroft, they make me nervous because of my little brother, who was a vastly talented and precocious child as well. As long as he did well in school (which he did - got all A's without doing more than 5 minutes of homework a day), my parents pretty much left him alone. A combo of laziness and fear of failure meant that he didn't really try very much, even though he's a natural athlete, gregarious by nature, etc. So the first time he failed at something, he was ill-equipped to handle it and was clearly bewildered under the pain. Your two at least seem to be open to trying things, which I hope will prepare them well for any failures that come their way.
Because I do believe they could do anything they wanted. Given how much we're hearing about Sherlock's violin lately, I wonder if he might be a musician.
that's basically any job he realises might have a slightly boring side to it
Oh, that isn't insurmountable! If he's good at whatever it is he decides on, he can hire someone to take care of some, if not all, of the boring bits. (Which is why most good creative types have agents to peddle their work for them.) Because being jobless is DEFINITELY boring.
He'll have to work on his interpersonal skills a bit to get a good assistant. Or find someone like Danger, who has the patience of a saint.
Mmmm, true. But he's six. He has time to do either or both... :)
Hmm. I can't think of any job that doesn't have at least some boring elements. The writers and musicians I follow on twitter certainly seem to think their jobs have a boring side. Of course, when you're six a great many things are boring; when you're an adult and needing to earn a wage, your perspective shifts a bit :-p
Speaking of jobs, how's Sherlock's plan to earn degu points by doing chores unprompted going? Is Snoopy still getting regular walks?
RR - yes, I just meant that being a genius won't help automatically with things like understanding other people and reacting appropriately. He's got loads of time, and is already far better at dealing with his peers than he was, and I'm sure he'll continue to improve.
being a genius won't help automatically with things like understanding other people and reacting appropriately
Indeed, quite the contrary, I'd say. He's very lucky to have John and you to not only help him figure it out but to make sure he knows he should make the effort, and why.
When I was little I wanted to be a mad scientist, or an astronaut (hah). Everyone else insisted I should be an artist. In high school, I still wanted to be a scientist, preferably some sort of physicist. I ended up training as a music historian, but am now a singer and... an artist.
But I sometimes wish I'd gone the science route, and tried to *make a difference*, somehow. I have ex-flatmates who do cancer research, and AIDS research, which makes me feel pretty frivolous by comparison!
(Hi! I know I've been absent, longer posts on your most recent posts a bit later after church, but I had to comment here)
I always knew I wanted to be a mommy. Even before I knew boys were involved at least peripherally... Now I work with children because that whole 'finding a significant other so I'm not outnumbered' thing isn't going so well XD
But yeah, I know I want to be a mum.
Hi, catching up with both your blogs alternately! It's such a great read - and because of the massive amount of emotions-inducing material, be it giggles or tears, I save them for the evenings...
Anyhow, finally the need to comment got better of me - the jobs. My sister is 18 and she has a complete idea of what kind of job she'd like to do, has her studies planned accordingly and is staying on target so far.
Me, I am this chaotic type - I actually have no specialisation, having run away from my high school (or whatever the equivalent between the elementary and the university is called) as soon as I was 18 and finishing it 8 years and several jobs later. :-)
My mom, she had been devoted to music. She started to learn how to play accordeon early on, went to the conservatory, learned to conduct and so on and finally completed her studies and got appointed as a senior professor teaching people how to teach music. Then she emigrated. She was a translator, a journalist, she washed floors in a bar, she worked night shifts on a cargo railway station, delivered newspapers, was an accredited tour guide, started and was cheated on several bussiness ideas, went into real-estates as an independent agent and I still think I am forgetting something. My mom is crazy! And 67 years old and looking for a new idea to work with.
So, nothing is set in stone and everything can change. It really depends on the person.
And as Tink wrote back in November - my idea has long since been to be a married woman and stay at home writing. So there. My first comment on these blogs - and on three months old post too. :-)
Hello, and welcome. :)
Maybe it runs like that in families. I always knew what I wanted to do, and Harry never did. Up to when I started looking after Sherlock and Mycroft I'd had one job, in my entire life. I think she's had about 20, and from what Lestrade's said, he has too. Hope it works out for you as well in the end as it seems to have for him.
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