#beanexpert

Want to pick better wine this year? We found this amazing app that will make you an expert! Take a photo of any wine label and Vivino will show you it’s rating, review and average price according to the app’s 14 million users. Like having the world’s largest community of wine drinkers in your pocket, this handy database will let you know which bottle is worth you money (and which isn’t).

                          It is a typical case of the-grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side. You can call me a woman who struggles to keep an identity, only to find I am attracted to another one, all too soon.

As a kid, I had fancy notions about a career. I hated numbers, but I still somehow thought I could escape the clutches of Math to be an aeronautical engineer.  At an age when I hardly understood the meaning of the title, let alone the job it would bring, I wanted to be a cosmonaut. Doctor or teacher was almost like a fall-back career option. “When everything else fails,” I thought to myself, “I can always go back and study to be a doctor or teacher.”

I was never diagnosed with any level of attention deficit syndrome, but my mother always wondered how I sat through the six hours at school. While other kids rode the bicycle to fetch things for their mother from the supermarket, I ran like a hyperactive, almost neurotic kid.

I loved to keep my mind occupied. On days I didn’t have much to do, I sat by the mirror and talked to myself. Of course, soliloquy is an art. And I have mastered it. Anyhow, I came to dread the question ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ for I never had a definite answer and I was afraid the teacher would find out I made a profession up in my mind just before my turn to answer the question.

I felt lost, distraught, and deprived of a sense of direction. And so I began reading and writing a lot. Like, a lot. That’s when I began discovering my love for words, and the bibliophile inside me. As I read books on diverse topics, I began discovering my love for music, movies, fashion, technology and interior decoration. And today, I’m in a career that would let me string all of my interests together. Public Relations. Then came social media, and now I’m rediscovering my passions using social media, communications and public relations.

And here’s how I think you can avoid being a mono-subject expert and explore your interests in varied areas that can eventually translate in a true career and a job that you will love.

Flex your muscles:

If you haven’t yet figured out what you want to do in life, don’t fret, instead flex. Be like the grasshopper; use your metaphorical feelers to explore your surroundings. Change professions – there’s nothing wrong with that. Reading about various subject matters is a good start. And then, put it into practice. For example, if you are an accountant who likes to be around nature, use your weekends to raise a garden. Learn about a new plant, or read about the best way to rear a cactus (or any other plant of your choice). Visit your local nursery or a park. You will be thrilled how much knowledge you can gain in a single day. Eventually, you can be a nursery owner yourself or a part time botanist who tutors students.

Add your tuppence (two pence/cents):

Scientists don’t always talk about discoveries and inventions when they meet with people, friends and family. Be the well-rounded speaker of the group. It has much value to everyone. And you don’t have to be an expert in the subject to share your experiences or have an input to a conversation. If you don’t know where to begin, start with talking about the latest book you read, or the last movie you saw and why you think it worked/did not work for you. Maybe, even talk about your favourite cuisine or your next hiking trip.

Learn the ropes:

Do not be all talks and no show. Know what you’re talking about or getting into. Research your specific interests as much as possible. If you like rock music, you are bound to want to know more about the different bands, artist names, concerts, sub-genres of rock, and likewise. What you can gain from knowing all these, you ask. Why, you can start a blog about rock music, and get others interested in learning more about the topic through your blog. Who knows, you may become influential enough to write a review of a new rock band or the last concert you attended and get paid for it.

Be a real person:

And by that I mean, keep doing the normal things you always do. Laugh, be nervous at times, have friends, eat heartily (and drink too), learn a new recipe and have a life. Read a joke, go to the beach, windowshop, try a different cuisine, have a random chat with someone on the subway and most importantly, have something to contribute to the society.

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