I read this quote recently. It's attributed to Kurt Vonnegut. And I think it's brilliant -
So I read this quote from Vonnegut and it got me thinking. I'm in the midst of struggling with a change in my life that I didn't see coming ... but had I read something like this earlier in life, I may have taken a different path altogether ...
You see, what you have here typing these words is a person with a sincere, undiagnosed case of mathphobia. By this I mean I am unable to do math - at all. I do not have the logical thought processes in my mind that allows it to get from point a to point b in a math problem. Algebra? Nope. Never made it past Algebra I in high school. Geometry? I had to take it twice - the second time through a summer course - just to pass it. In college I took a statistics course at the local community college because I thought it would be easier than taking it at UK. What a snob and an idiot I was. I didn't do well. I think the teacher gave me a "D" out of pity ... pure and simple, I just don't get it. It's not for lack of trying - I just don't have the logic to get it.
So with that I figured I would go into something that always seemed to come easy to me - and that was writing (and spelling. I find myself spelling things in my mind ALL the time. I was at a party the other day and met a gentleman named Stuart. I asked him, after we shook hands if that was S-t-e-w-a-r-t? And he answered me, as though I had just asked him how to spell Mississippi, "no. S-t-u-a-r-t. Any who, I digress, if even just a little). So I started writing. Because I couldn't do math. And it came naturally to me. And then I studied journalism. And I'm now an editor.
But I'm going to be 40 - one day soon, though not immediately - and I've finally figured out what I want to do with my life ...
Photography is a passion. I love it. I don't know if I'm that great at it, but I think I am pretty good at it. And I just love it. I love doing it. I love taking pictures of the boys. I love taking pictures of weird things I happen upon. I love taking pictures of friends. I love capturing time in a photograph so that I can look back on it and remember if forever. And I love providing that for other people. And dang. I just want to do it ALL. THE. TIME. But like any struggling artist, you have to pay your dues. You have to work hard to break into an industry that is filled with people who are already doing what you love to do. And they're doing it well - most of them, anyway. And they've already paid their dues. So how does one break into that?
And that's what I find myself struggling with. And that's what every artist of every genre is struggling with. How do you do it???
So if I've learned anything in the past 8 years of raising children, it's this - encourage them to do what they want to do with their lives. Don't worry about making money. Don't worry about making someone else happy. Don't worry about picking a career because that's what you know you can do. Do it because it's your passion. Because it's what your heart tells you is the right thing to do. The other stuff will follow. It has to. It will. But don't be like me. Don't be on the cusp of 40 - one day - and find yourself in the midst of a career - though rewarding - it's not one you necessarily want to do anymore. Do something that drives you to be better. That drives you to be successful. If you want to bang on the drums for a living, work your ass off to do that. And work to do it well. If you want to be an accountant for a living, work your ass off to do that. And work to do it well. If you want to paint. Or play football. Or play baseball. Or write a novel, work to do that!!! But promise that you will work your ass off to do it well. Don't be lazy about it. You must work hard at it. You. Must. Otherwise, you're not working at your passion. You're just being lazy. And that's when you need to get off your ass and get a real job!!!
"Go into the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as YOU possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something."
So I read this quote from Vonnegut and it got me thinking. I'm in the midst of struggling with a change in my life that I didn't see coming ... but had I read something like this earlier in life, I may have taken a different path altogether ...
You see, what you have here typing these words is a person with a sincere, undiagnosed case of mathphobia. By this I mean I am unable to do math - at all. I do not have the logical thought processes in my mind that allows it to get from point a to point b in a math problem. Algebra? Nope. Never made it past Algebra I in high school. Geometry? I had to take it twice - the second time through a summer course - just to pass it. In college I took a statistics course at the local community college because I thought it would be easier than taking it at UK. What a snob and an idiot I was. I didn't do well. I think the teacher gave me a "D" out of pity ... pure and simple, I just don't get it. It's not for lack of trying - I just don't have the logic to get it.
So with that I figured I would go into something that always seemed to come easy to me - and that was writing (and spelling. I find myself spelling things in my mind ALL the time. I was at a party the other day and met a gentleman named Stuart. I asked him, after we shook hands if that was S-t-e-w-a-r-t? And he answered me, as though I had just asked him how to spell Mississippi, "no. S-t-u-a-r-t. Any who, I digress, if even just a little). So I started writing. Because I couldn't do math. And it came naturally to me. And then I studied journalism. And I'm now an editor.
But I'm going to be 40 - one day soon, though not immediately - and I've finally figured out what I want to do with my life ...
Photography is a passion. I love it. I don't know if I'm that great at it, but I think I am pretty good at it. And I just love it. I love doing it. I love taking pictures of the boys. I love taking pictures of weird things I happen upon. I love taking pictures of friends. I love capturing time in a photograph so that I can look back on it and remember if forever. And I love providing that for other people. And dang. I just want to do it ALL. THE. TIME. But like any struggling artist, you have to pay your dues. You have to work hard to break into an industry that is filled with people who are already doing what you love to do. And they're doing it well - most of them, anyway. And they've already paid their dues. So how does one break into that?
And that's what I find myself struggling with. And that's what every artist of every genre is struggling with. How do you do it???
So if I've learned anything in the past 8 years of raising children, it's this - encourage them to do what they want to do with their lives. Don't worry about making money. Don't worry about making someone else happy. Don't worry about picking a career because that's what you know you can do. Do it because it's your passion. Because it's what your heart tells you is the right thing to do. The other stuff will follow. It has to. It will. But don't be like me. Don't be on the cusp of 40 - one day - and find yourself in the midst of a career - though rewarding - it's not one you necessarily want to do anymore. Do something that drives you to be better. That drives you to be successful. If you want to bang on the drums for a living, work your ass off to do that. And work to do it well. If you want to be an accountant for a living, work your ass off to do that. And work to do it well. If you want to paint. Or play football. Or play baseball. Or write a novel, work to do that!!! But promise that you will work your ass off to do it well. Don't be lazy about it. You must work hard at it. You. Must. Otherwise, you're not working at your passion. You're just being lazy. And that's when you need to get off your ass and get a real job!!!