Combine what you love with what you're good at

Everyone with Caribbean heritage or Caribbean friends knows of the Caribbean Carnival festivals which take place around the world each year. In North America, perhaps the most popular ones are Caribana or Toronto carnival, Washington DC carnival, Miami carnival and New York's carnival. But almost every state holds a version of these street parades which mimic those that take place in the West Indies. As much of a Carnival baby that I am, I have only been to DC Carnival and Philadelphia Carnival and both have left me wanting so much more. Both festivals end waaay too early (6.p.m) but I guess that that probably can't be negotiated with the respective cities. In terms of overall organization, Washington DC's carnival is definitely the better event and as such it is better attended, which makes me sad as I live in Philadelphia. So one of the things I intend to do while I live here in the City of Brotherly love is to approach the Philadelphia carnival planning committee about ways in which my skill set can be useful to them.

I firmly believe that people enjoy life the most when they combine what they're good at with what they love. So if you're good at cooking but love writing then find some way to merge the two. If you love sports and are good at art then combine those two passions. For me, I love my Caribbean culture and am good at integrated marketing communication, so ideally I would love to work somewhere that I can do both. Life really is too short to not enjoy the things you love.