Yes, I said Blacksmith. It sounds crazy, and most people don't realize how much work for a blacksmith is available (spoiler: it's a lot), but it's something that just kinda clicks for me mentally. Here's the breakdown of why blacksmithing and Cam click. It's both artistic and scientific in nature (like Cam), it's a support job that doesn't tend to be the centre of attention (which is ideal for Cam), there's potential for teaching others (which Cam enjoys quite a bit), it requires patience and knowledge (which Cam has in abundance and can easily retain, respectively), and it is the manipulation of metal (which Cam has always been intrigued by). I'm sure there's other aspects of I that suite the Cam but I can't think of them right this second.
Anyways, that's the end goal, blacksmithing. In order to get there, however, there's a lot that needs to fall into place. Firstly, I (finally) need to get a proper driver's license. Then I have to actually find somebody to train under (or somewhere to set up a homemade forge/temporary shop for self teaching, the former being preferable) and actually flippin learn it. That should take some time. That's basically the gist of it, but there's other stuff that goes along with it, more in the line of supplementing my progress but are equally necessary to the goal. I need a form of income (currently in the process of getting hired by a paint store, so checkmark on that), I need to branch out socially and be less shy when it comes to talking to people (also happening), I need to be more independent (looking for a place to rent with a buddy, should be grand but isn't official just yet), I need to be more social in general (sorta happening), I'm hoping to find someone to share my life with (only kinda working on that one, no actual prospects right now just ones I may have made up in my head), and last but certainly not least I need to get more fit (sorta started, it's just not quite in full swing yet). So basically I'm on a journey of self improvement and finally starting on my journey to a life goal.
It's strange, I never really had a life goal before now, I basically just did what other people suggested. I had no real direction of my own, just kinda floating through life not knowing if what I was doing was where I was meant to go. In May I had my revelation, I was all like "wait a minute, why don't I just actually do it?" I had kind of secretly wanted to be a blacksmith for a while but much like most people I disregarded its practicality as a modern occupation, dismissing it as a relic of an age before machines. Little did I know how viable it really is, within the past months I've heard of a surprisingly large amount of modern, active blacksmiths busy enough to be turning away work. These give me hope, and if I'm very lucky, maybe one of these very smiths will be willing to teach me.
This is all future talk though. Hopes and dreams are fantastic and we wouldn't be where we are today without them, but the exact details of going about them are rarely as simple as we would like to imagine. I have taken my first step, I have set the end goal and proceed forth with determination and iron will (Pun!), now to venture boldly into what the future has set before me knowing that wherever it leads me I will have the support I need to see it through.
So begins my life's journey anew, and I do so with a grin on my face and determination in my eye. Nothing will stop me from seeing it through.
Cheers
~Cam
