358 days left

I guess that for those of you who’ve been reading my posts and do not know me at all, this blog might seem a bit of a mystery. In my first post, I did give some basic info on what I was hoping to get out of this experience (you might want to read it if you just got here), but what I haven’t told you is what I was up to. But before shading some light on that, there’s something else, something equally important, that I must go over first. Why 365 days?

When it comes to deciding what you’re going to do for a living, especially when you’re young and have so many options, the situation you’re in is very much like ordering pizza. A few pizzas you know you don’t like; so there’s no point in ordering them whatsoever. I know I don’t like vegetarian pizzas just as I know I don’t want to become, say, a dentist. Many other pizzas you know taste fine, ordering them doesn’t really excite you but at least you know you won’t be disappointed.

But on the menu of every pizzeria in the world there is one pizza that stands out. One pizza that is different. So different, that you actually wonder why it’s there. Has it ever been ordered? Has anyone but ever tasted it? And in every pizzeria in the world, this pizza bares the same name: the Hawaiian pizza.

Well, I see the Hawaiian pizza as that thing you’d really want to do with your life, but you just don’t dare do. You wonder. Will that odd juxtaposition of tomato sauce, mozzarella, and little chunks of pineapple suit you? Will it forever change your sense of matching tastes? Will your understanding of the toppings god meant to be displayed on pizza be forever altered? But more importantly, will you be disappointed?

Unfortunately, those questions remain unanswered. Because by the time anyone has ever fought through the turmoil of fear, curiosity and hesitation that precedes the ordering of a Hawaiian pizza, his stomach has gone for a double cheese. Now imagine you knew for some reason that you only had a week left to try it out. Wouldn’t you rush to the pizzeria? Well, I know I would, hence the 365 days.

As I was graduating, I figured the only way to pursue the Hawaiian dream was to give myself 365 days to try it out. The time frame was the best way to stop thinking about how odds were (and are) against me and discover whether or not god meant for us to blend pineapple, tomato sauce and mozzarella.