the book

I think I finally decided what it is I want to be when I grow up-

I am currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts degree here at my local uni, and when asked what it is that I would do with my degree at the end of three years- I had to have a good hard think. I hate how in our modern society one is defined by their job, As if most of us have a choice. We as humans are all in this constant state of flux, especially in my age group where I often here a sentence along the lines of "oh, I am only doing this until something better comes along" or the old "...but I want to be a..." it is a sad state of mind that carries on for months, years, even lifetimes, this feeling of having to just make do with your lot in life.

Basically what I want to say is to not just dream of your dream job- DO your dream job! Don't be a carpenter if you want to be a footballer- be your dream, and that goes for those of you who really want to be plumbers instead of writers, students instead of secretaries! Don't be afraid to just try!

For me, I had always wanted to be an archaeologist- to be digging around, seeking out new and exciting things- unveiling history and travelling, but I didn't want the responsibility, the cataloguing- the years spent begging for grant money to follow a whim- I wanted to dig, to be in that moment when that rare and valuable treasure is dug up- whether it was a fortune in old coins, or an ancient bead from a forgotten temple, I wanted that moment- in perpetuity. I wanted to be a treasure hunter.

It wasn't until I came to uni to study philosophy that I realised that treasures of histoy and culture do not lie solely beneath our earth but in the myriad folds of our internal histories- the modge podge of cultural identity, the myths and legends and folk-tales that make up our world- both in terms of beliefs and religion, but also in what defines US. Whether it is culture or social understanding of our ancestors or of our selves. Every single day we are creating treasures in our stories and movies, and we are collecting and re formatting stories of our shared past.
These verbal, literary, and hereditary treasures are where my interest now lies, my one goal is to collect and correlate these stories as they have appeared and reappeared throughout various modes in our culture, whether it be through written media, song, story, poem, or movies.

so- my proposed future "job," the one thing I really want to be- something I could spend my life doing, is... ( drum roll please)

Christiane Ferguson,
MYTHOLOGIST
collector and correlator of myths and legends!
With the first order of business being to write a book on some of my personal research into the field of symbolism and archetypes.
( I bought a really crappy book called the encyclopaedia of signs and symbols and was extremely disappointed with the content- so I propose I will be able to do a much better job!)

would you like to help me with my research?
In the comments, tell me what your personal interpretation of the symbolism of a tree is- is there any myths, legends or ideas that come to your head when you think of a mighty oak, or a sapling pushing from the ground?

- over and out
Christi Ferguson
Mythologist extrordinare.