Dear seasoned, aggressive newspaper reporter: Time to let go of that precious "dream" and learn to see the virtue in, say, running a titty bar. The Wall Street Journal's underminers think so, anyway.

The paper's "Health Journal" column examined the lives of two former reporters and one former flack. The conclusion? Learn to let go of your job and live a balanced life where you take comfort in things other than your career. Make friends with normal people outside your profession.

That's sensible advice, particularly for journalists, who increasingly are losing hope of holding on to their jobs anyway. One investigative journalist went to work in community affairs at the Federal Reserve. The big-shot bank PR guy took a job at a low-profile firm. OK.

Then there's this Michael Precker, former Dallas Morning News editor and foreign correspondent:

Mr. Precker took a buyout in 2006 and now manages a high-end strip club. "I really wondered how it would feel to sever that link — Michael Precker of the Dallas Morning News," he says. "But it has been easier than I thought. I feel lucky."

Well, that's one way to follow therapists' advice to, in the Journal's words, take "pride in characteristics that can't be stripped away — virtue, integrity, honesty, generosity." Emphasis on "stripped."

Actually, we're just jealous, that sounds kind of fun. But only because the establishment is "high end." Classy.