On social media, an acquaintance remarked that they were recently questioned about their professional goals and that they don't really have any. They said it felt strange for them to admit that out loud. I have to say, I don't have major professional goals beyond paying my bills.
Professional Goals Culture: Can Be Toxic
I have experienced how organizations that equate the love of a job with being able to do that job can be toxic. I have also seen the toxic side of pushing people up the chain of command when they were not ready or interested. If someone loves their job, they may go above and beyond, but such love should not be an expectation of all employees. In addition, there are plenty of things I love that I would not be good at doing.
For example, at one point, I worked at a grocery store at the deli counter. My ability to slice deli meat and show up for my scheduled shifts had no relation to my love of the job. I lasted 3 years in that role. I cycled through three different team leaders and store managers in that same period of time.
Since I showed up when scheduled and did my assigned duties, there was pressure for me to apply for leadership roles. However, I was aware of the dysfunctional leadership in my department. In addition, if I were in charge, I'd have to deal with far more customers. I was usually praised for how I responded to customers (since, in retrospect, I scripted my encounters), but I was actually masking.
I didn't want the extra stress and less flexibility in my schedule for what would have amounted to an extra dollar per hour. While I can now explain that a leadership role would have overstimulated me and had an adverse impact on my mental and physical health, at the time, I simply refused to apply for leadership positions.
Professional Goals Culture: Can Be Ableist
Professional goals can also be ableist. I am autistic and have struggled with my mental health. Sometimes my goals are to get up and do the dishes that have collected in my room, or do a load of laundry, or respond to one email that has become an "impossible task."
Pushing individuals, who are in positions that give them the flexibility and work-life balance they need, into leadership is ableist. If someone has the spoons to do freelance or part-time work, it does not mean they have the spoons to run a department or organization.
Finally, it can be ableist for anyone who prefers what others consider basic tasks. If someone really likes updating Excel sheets, putting food on shelves, or working a few days a week, they are still living up to their potential.
How Can Professional Goals Be Reframed?
A professional goal could be framed as a goal for the organization; for example, providing noise-canceling headphones so that an employee can focus, or having a goal of cutting the number of meetings by a third. This would get closer to the intention of asking such questions: How can employees thrive in their roles? How can employees help the organization's bottom line?
Today was this year DePaul Pop Culture Conference: A Celebration of Star Wars
(This is the DePaul Light Saber that they handed out at C2E2)
First I have to admit that while I am aware of Star Wars culturally
I would not say it is one of my main fandoms LOL
But over all I had a good time like always.
I got to present first thing in the morning on the There’s a Balance: Star Wars Narratives panel. I presented on “Holiday Celebrations In A Galaxy Far, Far Away …”
When compared to other holiday specials from the 1970s and 1980s, as well as other fandom holiday specials, the 1978 Special was neither memorable nor iconic, yet it does not deserve to be despised. Its plot was simplistic but no worse than other such specials, though the 1978 special did desperately need an editor. The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special (2020), Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales (2021), and Lego Star Wars: Summer Vacation (2022) have all addressed the first holiday special's pacing, narrative, and language flaws. So in conclusion, holiday celebrations in fandom and in a galaxy far, far away can have the Force be with them, even if they never will be classics.
If you want to read the paper I wrote, you can get this year's book (and support my favorite independent bookstore) here.
Next, I got to the Academic Keynote, featuring Dr. Carmelo Esterrich, Columbia College-Chicago.
Dr. Carmelo Esterrich discussed looking at Star Wars in a context beyond what is typically thought about.
Beyond Universality:
While Star Wars is often considered universal, it is actually rooted in a very American context. Dr. Carmelo mentioned the series Star Wars Visions, which features shorts from celebrated animation studios from across the globe and looks at what Star Wars would look like in different national contexts. I have to say it looks really good, and I plan on watching some soon.
Beyond Monolithic
When many people think about Star Wars, they only think George Lucas was involved. It is important to consider all the people who collaborated on creating Star Wars: the cinematographer, the person who created the sound effects, etc. In addition, the Star Wars multiverse is not monolithic; for example, in the novels, there is much more LGBTQ+ content than in the movies.
Beyond Hierarchy
Many people see the Star Wars multiverse in terms of hierarchy, such as movies above everything else, live-action movies, or TV shows being above animated TV shows or comics, etc. In truth, we should consider all media. As Dr. Carmelo said, he sees Star Wars less in terms of cannon and more in terms of legends, and with legends, you often hear different versions of a legend without it being an issue of cannon.
Next, I attended the Continuity, Disconnection, and Transformations: The Transmedial, Paratextual, and Aural after lives of the Original Trilogy panel.
Then was the Professional Keynote, featuring Claudia Gray, author of Star Wars: Bloodline, Leia, Lost Stars, Master and Apprentice, and more! Claudia Gray was a lot of fun. It was interesting to hear about her writing journey, from writing fanfiction to writing Star Wars novels. And that she chose Claudia for her pen name because of I Claudius.
Next was The Cultural Center of the Universe: The Cultural Studies of Star Wars. which covered everything from queerness to gothic romance to simulated space flight.
Next was The Empire: Politics, which explored The Use of Private Threat Actors by the Empire and Other Nation States, The Geneva Conventions in a Galaxy Far, Far Away, and “The Clone Wars as Anti-Enlightenment Text."
The last panel I went to was The Mythic Star Wars. It included discussions of mythic themes in the heroine’s journey of the Final Skywalker, The Monomyth of Inclusion: the Hero and Heroine's Journey, and The Power of Myth and Storytelling in Star Wars.
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