The Deep (Baking) Joy.
I have only just learned that The Deep Joy does truly exist in reality. It is apparently the world’s deepest man-made swimming pool. Quite tangible and real.
Now why would that be relevant for a non-diver? It isn’t. At all.
This doesn’t mean that a 40 metre deep pool isn’t remarkable. It certainly is. However, what I have experienced today is a feeling of deepest joy.
I would have to go back to childhood memories to recall a similar moment. Forget about promotions. Ignore bonuses. Graduation wouldn’t even get close.
Bill Burnett and Dave Evans show us in their book Designing Your Life that it is possible to design your dream job. It is up to you. Go out and speak to people who do what you believe to be truly exciting. Demonstrate how you can see yourself in the stories they tell you.
Show them how you feel about it. They will see.
They might even say: “We actually don’t have a vacancy, but we are always looking for people like you. We could consider creating a job just for you. It would be a real shame not to.”
This is great! But then how realistic is that? And how does that apply to me?
When I quit a well-paid banking job 6 years ago, a number of my senior colleagues told me, «if only I could…», clearly expressing their frustration with being stuck where they were. At the time, I wasn’t brave enough to follow my dream. It was only my dream. I was convinced that it was somehow meant to stick with me.
So today I met two mavericks who are shaking up the baking scene in Switzerland. I was scheduled for an interview at a cool co-working space in Zurich having reached out to them through a mutual friend. There was little hope for me to secure a baking internship. Not a baker by training, no professional baking experience and only one week out of my finance career of 30 years. I had finally quit the financial industry for good. As it turned out, their curriculum vitae wasn’t much different from mine.
Then the magic happened.
We all recited food related memories thereby establishing a common ground. I had slept in the kitchen when baking my first series of different loads of bread. My home-grown bread culture comes second only to my children in terms of what I considered my biggest achievements in life. My mother-in-law once said in public that she would even wait in the queue for my bread. For sure not a statement coming off her lips easily.
By the end of our conversation I had secured a month-long internship, sleeping on a couch in the baking shop included.
I would even get access to the shower in the basement. How cool is that?
No pay. Well understood.
One of the happiest days of my life.
The Deep Joy.
