Zissou / Cousteau

Wes Anderson's 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou' led me to The Cousteau Society's website. 'The Captain' describes himself as a pioneering oceanographer, contributing to inventions such as the scuba and to heightening awareness of marine conservation. He made films of his expeditions, wrote books and became an international celebrity. The Society's mission statement is:

Educating people to understand, to love and to protect the water systems of the planet, marine and fresh water, for the well-being of future generations.

Awesome. Now, that is a job. I could have done with a word with his careers advisors when I was 10. I flicked through the site and came across this excerpt from an interview with The Captain:

"Now, you ask about my vocation. To be honest, I had three vocations and it so happened that I was nearly able to achieve all three in the end. The first was to be a naval officer, because when I was young, I would stand at the edge of the sea and watch the ships pass by: it fascinated me. You know, a vocation for kids is often based on things as fragile as that! The second, if the sea didn't work out, I wanted to be a doctor, a radiologist; that fascinated me, too. Finally, perhaps it was my taste for gadgets coming out, the third vocation was filmmaker. Now you see, in order, what I wanted when I was about 10 years old.

"No, you're never happy with yourself. But I find it rather amusing that fate should have steered me toward activities that are, almost exactly, what I wanted when I was ten. And completely by chance."

So he just built his own job. What do I like? Oh, I like the sea, fancy a go at making some films, chuck a bit of medicine in, that's what I'll do. Simple stuff. But take note and heed The Captain: you're never happy with yourself.