When you search for a job, you envision yourself in every position you apply for. And by position, I mean feet on the desk listening to a conference call as afternoon sun streams through your office window. Or eyes forward, headphones on as you sit in a row of white Parsons tables lined with Macs, the signposts of a start-up.

The imagined scene keeps changing. You size up the neighborhood, strategize your subway commute, pick out the best coffee options.

Mostly this mind game is a fantasy that doesn’t become reality

Still, there’s a sustaining positive energy that comes along with creating a setting in your head. It’s fuel to forge ahead with your hunt, a motivational tool that works a bit like copy in a real estate ad. Picture yourself cuddled on the couch by the heat of the fireplace. See your kids playing on the swings as you rinse dishes by the window. And in this bathroom, never a cold shower.

Lately, the head-trip of imagining my next work life has set me on an altogether different mental journey. Along with conjuring up each future job in my mind’s eye, I’ve begun to look back on every job I ever had.

In this funky retrospective, I’m not reflecting on the stuff of resumes or performance reviews. Not accomplishments, achievements, goals. There’s a space for that, when professionally required. Instead, I’m culling the quirky or kooky, channeling the minor sidetracks, not major milestones.

As I cherry pick events that once seemed kind of notable or nutty, they’ve taken on a new perspective this side of the looking glass. Job by job absurdity, NOT job security. Some tales may suggest there’s Big Lessons to learn, others may prompt just a little eye roll, or even a laugh: