When we met Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation, he was a couch-crashing goofball who had just fallen into a pit near his girlfriend’s house. Over the span of seven seasons, we saw him evolve, trying his hand at being a shoe shiner, an administrator, the lead singer of Mouse Rat, a security guard FBI agent a la Bert Macklin, Johnny Karate, and a dinosaur-charming hottie hero on Jurassic World. (Sorry, had to throw that last one in there.)
Some of my favorite TV characters are unfinished, flawed, and sometimes tortured souls. They represent real people who have real problems that can be overcome if they work through it. That realness is why I like them – it’s why I’m drawn to the Tim Rigginses and Andy Dwyers of this world.
Last night, on the Parks and Recreation series finale, we saw our friend Andy try his hand at career coaching. He and on-screen wife, April Ludgate recently realized that they’re becoming adults (and spoiler alert: it sucks). April is struggling to figure out what she wants to do with her life and Andy (who has some experience in this arena), gives her some advice that makes a helluva lot of sense:
[source]
“We don’t make a list of the things you love. We make a list of the reasons why you love them… and then, we find something that fits that list.”
He’s really speaking to my soul here. Andy is telling you to flip your search for meaning by finding your why. From a very young age, we’re encouraged to chase job titles and dollar signs. But what if we chased a feeling? What if we chased a state of mind? Maybe I’m becoming a softy as I approach the Big 3-0, but what if we chased the top of Maslow’s hierarchy first?
[source]
What do you love and why do you love it? (Don’t over think this – it can be karate, or cheese, or doodling – whatever!) Describe the last time you felt like you reached your full potential. When is the last time you felt accomplished and like you belonged to a community? When do people typically compliment you, for what type of work? Describe these feelings and try to articulate the reasons behind them. The “why” can tell us a lot about what to do next and how to fulfill those basic needs, too.
At base level, we’re all looking for a sense of security. But we can learn a lot from the Andy Dwyers of this world. It’s ok to be uncertain. It’s ok to try our hand at shining shoes, and playing guitar, and riding velociraptors until we find something that sticks.
