on graduating high school...

So I wrote about going to my girlfriend's nephew's graduation a few weeks back. And as I came back to VA, I had the opportunity to shoot some graduations in my hometown. Not only did I shoot the graduation of our rivals (when I went to high school), but I also shot my Alma Mater, 15 years after the fact.
I always remember the day as being among, if not THE, happiest day of my life. I never felt settled in high school, and consequently, always looked ahead to better days. The grass is always greener of course. Funny how I felt the same towards the end of my collegiate career that spanned 4 years of undergraduate, and a dragging 4 years of graduate work. This naturally resulted in a change of careers 5 years later, to pursue a life, that, by some accounts, is an utterly bad idea. Just check out what some people have to say about it here. Not all of them are photojournalists, but there is certainly a level of malcontent that brews in the journalism industry that can't be ignored. But I digress. I wanted to talk about high school graduations...
Like I said, I thought it was the happiest day of my life. I saw greener pastures and all that. I also (years later, as I would figure out) painted myself into a corner by rigidly planning my own future. Sometimes plans don't work out. As it would happen, I was getting my car fixed the other week, and, in the meantime, ate some breakfast. There upon the wall next to the cashier was a quote that said something like this:
Don't worry about the life you planned; worry about the life that happens.
I swear I couldn't find it on the internet. I thought the credit was to Joseph Conrad, but I couldn't come up with it on Google.
Anyway, I think the lesson really hit home with me at that moment. I spent so many years of my life convinced that I was going to be some sort of lab scientist, that I lost sight of what was in my heart. I couldn't see that what I really love to do is witness life around me. I majored in Psychology, not only because I'm fascinated by the intricate workings of the brain (the mind too, if you care about that mind/brain discussion--they are one and the same, trust me), but also because I'm simply fascinated with humans' interactions with each other, and in some respect animals, because of the insight they provide for ourselves.
So I went to these graduations not thinking about this initially, but realizing that, in the end, we all love to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Every kid at these ceremonies seemed giddy and just plain psyched to be getting out of school. It's funny, though. Every speech was about "planning", or "taking what life" gives you. And I remember how smart I thought I was when I was 18. I was absolutely sure of what I'd be doing in 10 years. I'd be a doctor of some sort, leading some medical charge in curing brain cancer or something. But it's funny. If I'd just listened to the whispers in my heart, I'd have seen it wasn't true. I once answered a question in a class in high school, that was phrased similarly: If you could have any job in the world, disregarding any circumstances that might normally prevent you, what would you be?
I remember quite confidently writing down, "photographer for National Geographic". I can't really say why I never considered it an option. Maybe b/c I was a yearbook photographer and I wasn't very good. Maybe b/c I thought it was something you had to be doing since you were a kid, or you had to have the most fancy expensive equipment (which is actually partially true). Either way, this came to mind when I saw that quote and thought about the kids at graduation and the years I spent pursuing a career that would ultimately go unfulfilled, and I thought of another quote from an unknown source:
Make important decisions with your head, make the really important decisions with your heart.
Here's to hoping my heart is right.