Because a clear road can be a red flag and capping test tubes can haunt your fingertips.
Everyone loves a neat, well-paved road forward, but today’s Thought of the Day and Question of the Day dare us to look twice. We’ll unpack Joseph Campbell’s warning about overly obvious paths and swap stories about the worst jobs we’ve ever clocked into—mine involved thousands of slippery test-tube caps and teenage humility. Ready? Let’s dig in.
Thought of the Day: “If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s.” — Joseph Campbell
I used to cheer whenever life felt like cruise control. Smooth hallway at school? Sweet. Predictable project at work? Even sweeter. But every time I settled into that comfort, boredom grew like moss. Campbell’s line reminds me that growth is rarely well-lit or freshly paved. Clear paths are often designed by someone with their own destination and their own tollbooth.
Last year, when I split my Questions and Thoughts into separate posts instead of lumping them together, it felt messy at first. My editorial calendar looked like it lost a bar fight. Yet the experiment doubled my subscriber replies. Turns out bush-whacking builds muscle. If you need a nudge, revisit my piece on mourning what you’ve lost.
Question of the Day: What is the worst job you’ve ever had?
Cue the smell of cherry Kool-Aid concentrate and latex gloves. In high school I capped test tubes in a food-science lab—eight hours of twist-push-click, twist-push-click. By lunchtime my fingertips felt like chewed gum. The work taught me two things:
- Repetition without meaning is a fast track to existential dread.
- Any job can be a stepping-stone if you refuse to stay stuck there.
What was your soul-shrinking gig? Were you a mascot in July heat? A complaint-line sponge? Drop your horror story below. If misery loves company, personal growth loves perspective.
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