Many of us have unknowingly (and sometimes knowingly) fallen into living our lives the way society tells us to. From when we’re children, we’re told that getting that award, or making a certain amount of money equals happiness. The common trajectory goes something like this: go to the right university and get a “worthwhile” degree, find a high-paying job at a billion dollar company, and buy a house, then you’ve made it. In actuality, you might find temporary happiness from making a million dollars or winning that accolade, but none of this matters if you don’t find your passion and direction in life and that could mean very different things for different people (it’s not all about a career).
This journey of discovery is not an easy process and many people never feel like they’ve truly accomplished it. However, making steps towards finding your calling can lead to feeling more fulfilled in your daily life and being happier overall, which positively affects your relationships, mental health, and other aspects as well.
How to find your passion with cannabis
All of us may have been looking at this the wrong way because it’s not actually about “finding” your passion, but fighting hard to achieve it despite what the outside world tells us. Basically, it’s not just going to fall into your lap, it takes work. The first step is to discover the intersection of three key elements: what you’re good at doing, what you enjoy doing, and jobs where you can combine both of these things. Though making money from your passion isn’t necessary to feel fulfilled, it does make life easier because let’s be honest, we all have bills to pay and it’s better to be doing it in a way that doesn’t make us feel miserable. Cannabis can help you by alleviating the stress and anxiety of not knowing what you really want to do in life, but can also help during this step of the journey by causing relaxation, inspiring creativity, heightening self-awareness, and most importantly inducing a sense of euphoria.
This feeling of euphoria can help you overcome mental obstacles such as the fear of failure that may be standing in your way. Marijuana will give you the feeling that this journey of discovery isn’t as difficult as it seems and that everything will work itself out in the end. Oftentimes that’s all that’s needed to realize that we may actually be holding ourselves back from fulfilling our true potential and to just going for it. Founder of Women Grow, Jazmin Hupp talks about discovering happiness and her calling thanks to marijuana. “...it can be a little daunting to get started with: you may have had a first paranoid experience or anxiety-producing experience on cannabis. But cannabis allows us a chance for introspection: to go within ourselves and ask what really makes us happy.”
Once you get a little high and find this sweet spot, the real work begins. It takes extreme courage to make a drastic career change or do a complete 180 (especially if you have a family to think about), but it’s worth it if you’re able to find your passion and purpose in life and ultimately find happiness.
Cannabis industry jobs
Though marijuana is still illegal at the federal level and is designated as a Schedule I drug, there is a constant push for legalization and decriminalization in the U.S. and internationally. This has sparked a surge in marijuana industry jobs, as well as an increase in cannabis investors, entrepreneurs, and researchers, with large corporations like Scotts Miracle-Gro testing their luck in the sector. In 2019, the legal marijuana industry in the U.S. was estimated to be worth roughly $13.6 billion and is expected to grow exponentially as more states legalize pot. The number of cannabis jobs has increased year over year and New Frontier Data estimated that if legalized at the federal level, approximately 1.63 million people could potentially be employed in the sector.
What are you passionate about?
For numerous pot smokers, marijuana isn’t just about getting high. Many stoners are passionate about helping others medicinally, becoming the best at hybridizing, or are interested in the chemical composition of the plant. If you find yourself constantly researching a marijuana niche just out of curiosity, you may thrive in a marijuana-related job. Beyond working as a budtender, most people have no clue about the opportunities available and how to start a career in the sector, however jobs are available that are common across all industries like marketing, IT, and accounting. There are also many in demand high paying positions that require university degrees! As the cannabis industry changes and grows, there will undoubtedly be new types of roles needed. Here are just a few examples of the marijuana jobs that are out there right now:
- Marketing and social media manager
- Blogger/copywriter
- Public relations specialist
- Graphic designer
- IT specialist/webmaster
- Product tester/reviewer
- Botanist
- Cultivator, trimmer, harvester, packer
- Master extractor
- Cannabis scientist/lab director
- Pharmacologist
- Dispensary owner, franchisee, COO, or CFO
- Marijuana consultant (business lawyers and attorneys)
- Product designer/materials engineer
- Edibles chef
Being unsure about yourself and deciding which path to take in life is something everyone goes through and takes time. Whether you want to work in the cannabis industry or not, marijuana can help guide you through the difficult task of discovering your direction and calling. Cannabis can get you through both the tough times by helping you relax and also allows for introspection to get you where you want to be.
