The Best Job in the World

(Originally written Feb. 17, 2009 @ 2:00 AM) My chances are about one in 12,000 for landing "the best job in the world," and my odds are exponentially worsening by the minute. Time is running out for the Queensland Ministry of Tourism's competition searching for one lucky soul to work as caretaker on a gorgeous Island of the Great Barrier Reef. As I prepared my own video to be submitted and racked my helplessly hopeful little brain for witty words to string together, all I could think of to describe the coral, sand and sun popping up in my Google searches, was paradise. To avoid cliches when choosing a title for my video (paradise found, island paradise, etc) I checked a thesaurus for synonyms. Nirvana. Bliss. Utopia. No wonder people from every country and culture, of all different shapes, sizes and sanity levels, are sending in their cheesy, painfully desperate yet inspiringly enthusiastic videos in the hopes of escaping their troubled realities for a taste of paradise. The winner gets to live in one of the most beautiful, unspoiled areas of the world for six months, plus a AUS $100,000 salary, just for keeping a blog and giving updates on the islands. Sound like the best job in the world? It sounds more like the best vacation, or in my case, the best way to put off getting a real job (in the world). So with 12,000+ applicants as of yesterday, and still 4 more days for anyone in the world to give it a whirl, it looks like the definition of paradise is universal, and that the one thing we all have in common is a desire to go there. While religious fanatics blow up their neighbors in the Middle East and revolutionaries take hostages in South America; Democrats and Republicans battle over economic policy in the US and all the citizens of the world struggle over some problem or plight, I wonder if paradise isn't the beautiful island itself but rather the idea that all people share this same notion of heaven on earth. If everyone's job was to relax in a beautiful setting, enjoy the surroundings, meet interesting people, play, explore and share the experience with the rest of the world, wouldn't there be less fighting, lower blood pressure, and more shiny, happy people holding hands? Maybe that's the hippy in me, but I'm a dreamer, and I'm not the only one. So for me and the other 12 thousand idealists trying for our chance at paradise, we're on our way. Paradise isn't a place, it's a mindset. Now if only Congress would jump on the bandwagon, take a vacation and loosen those skivvies they all seem to have twisted...