The Path is No Path

‘Weird’ life paths have always been the norm, when you scratch the surface of someone’s story.

Mark Twain, most famous as a writer, had a ‘weird’ path. He worked as an apprentice printer, then as a typesetter, then a riverboat pilot, then a brief stint in the Army. He then headed west to try his hand at mining; when that didn’t work out, he started writing for a newspaper. Along the way he experienced bankruptcy, fame, the death of his son, daughter, and brother, and eventually his wife. He lived in a dozen US states, always moving for unpredictable reasons. Twain often said if he wrote his own life story, it would be dull and not believable to the reader. It was a random, opportunistic life of grief, success, utter failure, and starting over again.

‘Normal’ paths have always been rare. People’s stories are never ‘I became x then did y then retired’. Throughout history, most people’s lives have followed an unpredictable, unknowable, sometimes wildly unlikely path.

We confuse the superficial for the truth: titles, resumes, job roles, all of it. But none of us are job titles; those are never who we really are. They’re just dots on the way.

Yet we connect those dots in reverse and call it a ‘path’. It almost never was.

Remember this the next time someone asks “where do you see yourself in five years?” And remember the only honest response to that question is laughter.