Now this is just plain cool. I know that “cartoonist” ranks pretty high on the list of fun jobs, but “play fort designer” is right up there too. If you have about $100,000 to burn — and who doesn’t? — you can have Barbara Butler custom design a backyard play structure. (Non-custom designs will run you about $80,000 less).
I especially like her philosophy:
Create a great backyard play structure that’s an outdoor playroom. Make it beautiful to look at and strong enough for the whole family to play on. Spark the imagination and encourage kids to turn off the TV and computer, and go outside to play!
I’m not sure how big this market is, but it’s big enough for at least one person to make a living doing it. During my talks, I often reminisce about those tests they make you take in high school to find out what careers you should consider. I could never have imagined — let alone written — my present-day job description when I was in high school. It’s not one of those cookie-cutter jobs that attract resumes that all look the same. It’s custom-designed; built around me and the unique gifts God gave me.
These types of personalized career paths are the way of the future. The days of staying with a company for 50 years are over. With outsourcing and technological advances on the rise, the future job market will be anything but secure — except for those people who follow their passions and aren’t afraid of change.
Something that describes kids quite well.
That’s a totally groovy job – and boy, does it look like she does it well. Actually, one of the things on my list of Things To Do in Life is #45631.5: Build a great, wonderful tree house in my back yard… when I get a house and a back yard!
That’s right alongside buying a houseboat to live in. I thought about doing both simultaneously, but unfortunately living in a house boat is rather of a migratory nature and I don’t think I could find a tree out in the middle of the water to build off of.
A currently more prominent and attainable To Do for me right now is to design and build a playground at church for the preschool we’re starting. I’m really interested in making it a Boundless Playground, as well as foregoing the typical plastic (and thus, “safe”) play structures out of catalogues and making it a more natural playground – with found objects (like an old row boat), ye olde curiosities, boulders, plants and trees, and the like.
Oh so fun.
You’re absolutely right about what it takes for a successful and secure career – that’s something more and more you won’t find on a career test. It’s something I recently blogged about – there’s a new book called “A Whole New Mind,” by Dan Pink, about the seismic, though subtle, shift in society from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. In the years to come, right-brained free thinking and creativity are going to be valued a whole lot more than just a set of skills.
All I can say is, “Yahoo!”
That’s cool! :)
While looking for “Forever Young” I found hhttp://www.treehouses.org/projects/cradlebeach.shtml
The really cool part is it’s really close to me.
Just saw a blog note about natural playgrounds and thought you might like to see our website.
:)