What's Most Important When it Comes to Work?

In recent weeks, I've been thinking a lot about what's most important to me when it comes to my work.

Money?

Flexibility?

Emotional and spiritual fulfillment?

Creating a better world?

For almost 20 years, I have worked in a profession that most people either don't understand or outright despise: public relations. I fell into this field, really. In college, I wanted to be a journalist. I wrote for the campus newspaper and had one "try out" writing obituaries for a local newspaper. The pay for that job—in 1991 when I graduated college—was $13,000 a year. I made the snap decision that I'd rather be living in a big city working as an administrative assistant than toiling away at a small market newspaper near my hometown.

When I moved to Boston I went to the local teaching hospital in search of a job. Any job. The economy was bad then, too, so I would've been happy with answering phones and filing. That's when I saw the posting for a public relations associate. The job involved answering phones and filing newspaper clippings, but it also allowed me to work with local health and medical beat reporters. I set up interviews with patients and doctors and escorted camera crews. There was the occassional crisis, too, which fed the journalist sleeping inside of me.

Many years later, I would find myself teaching introductory public relations courses at a local college. I thought about a career in academia and decided no, too much schooling. Since having my second child six years ago, I have been freelancing. I pick up short-term projects here and there. Most are still within the field of public relations and I am able to make a good living. I'm also able to spend more time with my boys than I could if I worked full time in an office somewhere.

But what's next?

Going back to school for an advanced degree? Making a total career change (oh wouldn't it be fun to own a paper store or be an interior decorator)? In all seriousness, though, I'm struggling over my next steps. I'm told these are my prime "earning years" and the fact that I am out of the traditional workforce now could have a big impact on me later. When my boys are in high school, where do I want to be?

I look around at other women I know, the ones with high-paying careers and families, and for some, the stress is visible. I feel fortunate that I was able to trade away that stress for more flexibility and yet I have given up other things along the way: corporate-funded retirement and benefits, paid vacations and holidays, professional training and development, bonuses and raises (as if those still exist). Unlike women who leave their careers altogether to raise children, I've managed to stay connected to my field and keep my resume in tact, but at what price?

As another new year approaches, I'm making a list of what's important to me professionally and reading a lot of books and blogs about on-ramping women. I'm curious what other women think. What's most important to you when it comes to work?