The Boiling of the Bones

10. Follow Up Visit

I returned to Dr. Weintraub's office for my follow up appointment a week after my prior visit. He gave me a friendly welcome.

"How'd it go?"

"I didn't have any big exams, but I think the exercises helped."

"Great. Let's talk about college."

I still didn't want to go. Not because of the anxiety, it wasn't what I wanted. I told him I wanted to be a musician and opened up about all my feelings regarding working and the pointlessness of the rat race and everything.

"Everyone feels like that--to a point. Most people don't love their work and would prefer to do something else. That's why they call it work. But they do it so they can have a place to live. Maybe they like to travel or enjoy eating at nice restaurants. You've got to have money for all those things. To become a healthy individual, there's an ideal work/life balance and it's different for everybody. You have to find what works best for you. College is not for everybody. You don't have to go to college if you know what you want in life and have a realistic plan to get there by other means. College would be a waste of time and money if you didn't know what you wanted. You wouldn't believe how many people come in here and tell me they hate their job and wish they'd studied something else in college. Don't get me wrong, it's a great place to go when you know what you want."

He leaned forward in his chair and made eye contact.

"Let's say you really want to be an architect. You can't just go to a community college; you have to go to an accredited school for that. Most states only have one or two qualifying programs. There's simply no other way. You have to get the proper training necessary to design, safe, functional buildings. After college, they have seven industry certification exams to ensure you've learned all the necessary skills. But that's not all. You also have to complete a three-year internship at architecture firm."

Dr. Weintraub paused for a sip of water.

"It takes a lot of planning and it's the same in many careers. Step one, you start by looking around and deciding what you want to do. Then you map out how to get there. For most people college is part of the process. If you don't know what you want, you won't discover it by accident. It takes years of dedication, preparation, hard work and specialized training."

"I want to be a musician."

"OK, map it out for me. Where do you want to end up, and how do you get there?"

"I want to play my music. I want to go on tours, perform concerts, record and sell CDs. I'm pretty good at the guitar. I play—or practice whenever I can. Usually, a couple hours a day. I have a notebook full of song ideas. Most of them still need work. But I take it with me wherever I go. I get random flashes of inspiration at odd times and places so I'm always polishing and refining my ideas. I played a show onstage at the Starlight Brew Coffee Shop a couple months ago and they said I could come back again. I'm booked for a Friday night in a couple weeks. It doesn't pay anything but it's good experience. I'm always trying to line up more shows like that."

"You're off to a great start. What's the next step?"

"I have to perform. More and more. Play more shows. Work my way up to bigger venues. Build a following. Put together a website, some kind of fan club or a calendar of where I'm playing. Maybe join a band, or network with other artists. Meet with record companies and promoters. Eventually record a CD and make T shirts to sell at my shows. Stuff like that. Most artists release a few CDs before they have a big hit, so I think I need to keep recording a bunch of songs and get myself out there."