Success and Passion

I think we've reached the point in our society, many years before I was born, when success lost its specialness. The truth is, in this North American world, to be successful, all you have to do is get born. Success is so prevalent, you're pretty much tripping over it.

Now, people start to cry foul when they see celebrities becoming successful for no reason. The truth is, anyone can be that person. Anyone can do that thing that gets so much attention and success that they never really have to work in their life, except to hone whatever craft they've fallen into. We'll take acting as the example.

Now, I'm not saying that actors don't have talent. A lot of actors do work really hard to become good at what they do. However, what I will say is that talent in a lot of cases really isn't relevant. For one thing, there are opportunities constantly in North America to get a job as an actor. We still live in the age where a young person can say to themselves at age 18, "I really liked that one play I was in, so I think I'll try and do it as a living." It's really not that different from saying to yourself "Hey, a lot of people seem to need their yards raked, so why don't I go ahead and do that for them." The opportunities are just lying there in front of you.

And it's not an issue of money. This is something I should have learned a long time ago, because I read it so many times, but worrying about how you're going to get by is no way to get by. No matter what you do, the world is laid out so that you are destined for success. That is, as long as you actually do it. And this is why it's so important to pick a direction that you enjoy.

I have to admit, I have big problems with the word Passion. I don't really feel like a have a passion. But if you choose to set out in a direction you don't enjoy, you will find that the tasks you are supposed to do, you just don't do. And that is the recipe for failure. The recipe for failure is not attempting. As long as you attempt a thing, I promise you will succeed at it.

Now, maybe that's somewhat of a tautology. That is, I sort of define success as merely attempting to do something. And this is a convenient way for me to blame people for not trying if they don't succeed. So if you aren't successful, well you must not have wanted it that bad. I don't know if I believe that all the way, but I am willing to stand by it for now. I also don't mind applying this self-blame to my own life, because its positive flip-side is that I do have the power to change things from this point on. And if I "tried" something and didn't succeed at it, then that's evidence that my heart was never really into it, and it's time to try something new.

What usually ends up happening for me though, is I try to start a project, like an epic poem, for example, and I give up very quickly. I don't throw it away, but I tell myself that I'll pick it up again later. Consequently, I have a million project starts, but no finished projects, and hence no real heart-felt attempts at success. Well then, maybe epic poetry isn't for me, but I always do find myself starting new projects and having new ideas for epic poems. It's not a bad thing to just keep them all in a file, I guess.

One thing I seem to have a problem with when starting a project, is almost in 100% of cases, I get a really good start going on a project, work pretty hard at it for several hours, and then when my first session is over, and I have to go to my day job, or go to sleep, then after that one cycle, I never feel like going back to the project again. Maybe I ran up against a wall, and I just have to be aware, and watch for the cues. Usually I don't even realize that I'm up against a wall, but I just get a hungry feeling in my stomach, or I feel sleepy, and I chalk the whole thing up to that. "I guess I'm just too tired to write now," I say, and then that's the end of it. In almost all cases, I never pick up the project again. Well, I can work on that.

So for me, deciding to be a poet is as simple as deciding that I want to be a house-painter or a mover. I simply have to see a need, and start writing to fill it, and success will come.

That is how our society works. I could go into the whole thing about productivity and hours, which I think I've talked about before, but basically we've reached the point in our society such that only an hour or two of work per week is enough to grant us the standard of living that our ancestors had. Of course, one problem is our standard of living keeps increasing, so our sense of what's normal kind of keeps us thinking we're poor. But in our society there really is no need for anyone who doesn't want to work, to work.

People who don't work have a psychological blockage. This is a sickness, and it needs to be treated as such.

There is no need for anyone in our society to work. However, work is a fundamental psychological need of the individual. Even the people who don't work obviously keep themselves occupied. Working is something that human beings automatically do. It's just our modern world puts a price on productivity, and whether anyone is willing to pay you for the activities you perform in your daily life.

This is what I mean by success is inevitable. Pick up any tool and start working with it, and you are being productive. Whether it's a pen, a paintbrush, a computer keyboard, a musical instrument, or a paint roller, or a delivery van. It's just a question of getting someone to give you something in exchange for your work. And that part should come naturally.

Now, there is the question of watching too much television, being sedentary, playing video solitaire, or chain smoking, or excessive gambling. These are time-wasters, and at least one of these things or something like it, is psychologically necessary for every individual in North America. Yes, I said they are necessary, and they can be healthy diversions. That's right, I said smoking, in moderation, is healthy. I don't know of too many people who agree with me, even smokers, but I'll stick by it. The problem only comes in when these things are done at the expense of the activities that you really love.

I've never heard anyone ever say "I have a real passion for video solitaire." Or "if I could do anything I wanted, I would sit in front of a slot machine all day." No, the function of these things is a release. No one has a passion for these things, but they're things we need to do just like going to the bathroom and eating. I've also never met a person who claimed to have a passion for going to the bathroom. I've heard of a few people who have a passion for eating, but I think these people are in the minority, and they may be taking poetic license with what they call a passion, or with what part of eating they actually feel passionate about. For example, if a person is passionate about eating, are they going to eat oatmeal every chance they get, or are they more passionate about the different taste sensations they can experience. In fact, show me a person who is passionate about eating, and I'll show you someone who is more willing to try new things than someone who isn't.

So is that it? Do what you love and success will follow? Well, I can't say that it has worked in my life, because I'm doing a job I hate, and I rarely get to do the things I love. When I do get some free time off work, I find myself playing computer games, watching television, and doing other things that sort of waste my time. I can justify them because I do think I need to watch television and play video games in order to stay sane.

The problem comes in rationing out my time in activities that I love and activities that are simply comfortable. When I ask myself if I want to take up a project that I started the day before, my answer is always "well, would that be more fun than what I'm doing right now (playing video games)?" Usually the answer is no, because I left my project at a difficult or frustrating moment. And so I stay in my computer chair. I know I would be incredibly rewarded if I worked on my project, but I choose to avoid the problem of the day. So in this way I end up playing video games until it's time to go to my day job or go to sleep.

Again, there's nothing wrong with video games, but they're just more comfortable to do in the moment than pick up my project at a difficult or frustrating moment.

Now, I have to go clean the cat's litter box, because I was just on my way to do that, when I got distracted by this insight and thought I had to get it down on the computer.