Real Question: Do people actually LOVE LinkedIn??

Okay, here's the situation: 

(My parents went away on a week's vacation and they left the keys to the brand new Porche...)

I have an account on LinkedIn because apparently that's what one does. 

When I first set it up, I saw it as a joke so my profile picture was a snap from play rehearsal where I was a convicted arsonist, wearing an orange jumpsuit and everything.

Still one of my favorite pictures ever taken of me.

Anyhoo, I made my profile with absolute irony because the idea that there would be a "social media" site dedicated to people's professions just seemed impossible to me.

Over time, it's gotten a lot busier over there. I'm more plugged in at the moment because James is looking for a job, and I like to keep on top of contacts' businesses who might be hiring.

The thing is, NO ONE over there is doing anything ironically. People pontificate about their professional life and the culture around their careers with an absolute earnestness that is completely foreign to me. 

This is probably a personality flaw in me and if you've ever worked with me, you probably already know this: I have never given much of a crap about any profession I've ever engaged in.

I mean, I am an overachiever and believe that if I'm being paid, I should do my absolute best. I'll sometimes even go above and beyond. AND it's devastating if you have a reliable source of income that dries up.

In that way, I'm kind of a model employee. 

But am I passionate about private home rentals? Do I want to read more about the trends in residential leasing? No never not one bit and the only time I've pursued this type of thing is when it was required for continuing education credits.

Now... I understand about networking. D is wanting a more administrative job than what they're doing at Ross. When I was thinking about the office job's I've had, they were ALL gotten because someone knew someone: Boyfriend's mom knew architects who needed a receptionist; dad was the HR manager of the parent company where the newspaper advertising department needed a gopher, mom's friend from church worked at an employment agency who placed me at Terra West, and a friend saw online that I was needing work so invited me to join their insurance agency.

Is that basically what LinkedIn is? 

And if so, why are people so adamant about creating consistent and lengthy content?

Does that really help when you're job searching?

If you're a LinkedIn connoisseur, I need to know: Is this an enjoyable part of your career building or is it just a necessary evil? Please enlighten me.

 

S'posedta Be

I thought that I was supposed to be an astronaut, then I found out that candidates (at the time) had to have 20/20 vision, and I didn't.

I thought that I was supposed to fit in in high school by being on the drill team, but my parents didn't let me audition.

I thought that I was supposed to be one of "those girls" from Arkansas who got married at a young age, but the guy who'd asked me turned out to be gay.

I thought that I was supposed to be an actress, but realized before my final year of college that I did not have the drive to do the things my classmates did just to secure auditions. I knew that I had marginal talent that it would have taken superior drive to make work, and I did not have that in me.

I thought that I was supposed to adopt, but I was too young and immature even to manage a marriage, much less a baby.

Later, I thought that I wasn't ever supposed to have kids at all, but then Daphne came along.

I thought that I was supposed to change the lives of six at-risk young men by being a house parent at Boys' and Girls' Town, but it turns out that bonding with a group of very angry teenagers whilst trying to bond with a two-month-old baby is not something I was equipped to do simultaneously.

I thought that I was supposed to change people's lives through my story-telling, but those opportunities went away with the passing of my marriage.

I thought that I was supposed to be a stay-home wife and homeschool mom, then I was single and I had to get a job.

I thought that I was supposed to be a single mom with a gym rat kid, living a bohemian life in a recreational vehicle, and then James and I reconnected.

In my life, I have had access to incredible opportunities. I've squandered a lot of them, but I've taken advantage of a lot of them, too. I've messed up, I've given up too soon, I've stomped my feet and been a brat, I've hurt people. But I've also helped people, I've fought when others told me to bolt, I have stood in the shadows, watching smiles that I know were because of something that I did, and have taken quiet pleasure in that.

For all of the time I spent obsessing over what I was supposed to be, I sometimes lost sight of what I was in that moment. Today, I am a wife, and a mother, and a homeschool facilitator, and a lover of adventure. But if everything changes tomorrow, I'll still be exactly what I'm "supposed" to be. And that is enough.