Increasingly I've come to respect the harmonious truth in
thinking big, acting small
. When it comes to doing anything long term enjoyably, it's less the late night scenes hacking away. It's less about realizing there's some market to be had and trying to chase it. It's more about you and what you want to do.
I think
the biggest trap we sell ourselves
is believing that we want things that we don't actually. I know that music is cool to listen to and art is awesome to have created and that video games are a blast to play. But there just can't be this many people wanting to do this few things. We are so diverse. Not everyone wants to be a writer, entrepreneur, or digital-savvy-hustler (or anti-hustler) content creator. People want to do more 'boring' things, it's just that we keep trying to nudge each other into thinking boring things are
boring
.
How we think of boredom has been tainted because for most boredom judgements were cast in committees. Maybe it was groups of friends trying to figure out what was cool and what was lame. But that's a terrible way to figure out what interests you and what bores you. Interests, purpose, passions... these things don't belong in democratic committees. They belong in your own abode. Figure it the hell out, because if you don't the
zeitgeist
will.
I don't know how somebody can put on a lab coat and study shit in a microscope all day. I don't know how somebody can work with excels and financial figures all day. I don't know how anyone can spend their life reading, of all things, legalese. But then, in all of us, there is a bit of the artist. I was watching that surgeon show on Netflix, "The Surgeon's Cut". Not that I can understand why anyone would want to be a surgeon, but I do see precisely how even that can be elevated to art. It's art, baby, that's all it is. Make art. Then nothing's boring.
But here's where we might diverge: I don't believe that art is in the medium itself. A lawyer can be artistic in their supposedly unartistic craft. Someone practicing 'creative writing' can be spurring the act from a formulaic, artless decrepit pit.
What argue is not that people don't want to be artist, but rather that this is precisely what people want. To express themselves through their thoughts, feelings, actions, and ultimately impact. They've just been duped into thinking that that comes from the medium. Things most people easily associate with 'artistic' like music, making.
In your example of white lab coats and excel sheets you're
strawman
ning a craft by
caricaturizing
the mechanical actions. You're purposefully not seeing that there is a purpose to it. Just like I could caricaturize a writers' craft as boring because all they do is scribble ink onto paper of tap a keyboard.
PS this is not to say all finance people or lawyers or artistic in their work. Most of them are not. But that's no different than most artists (writers, painters, musicians, etc).
I thought that's what I said, lol. Like, as boring as all of that shit seems to me, if you're always growing in it, innovating, and you express yourself somehow through it, then it is art. Art is not solely the domain of "the artist".
I agree with that assessment Sir Abe. I recall having an opportunity to meet a male Ethiopian Chef - Marcus Samuelsson some years back. Because I love cooking and I am a fan of Marcus, I was telling a bunch of people I know about the event. Most of the Ethiopian men I talked to couldn't care less about Marcus. The exact comment was - what can Marcus talk to me about? Cooking? No thanks.
Because society back home still seeing cooking as a female job as opposed to a career, they declared that what Marcus does is boring and unimportant. While in the US, it is so easy to see many people's passion being cooking.
My point is that even society/culture/traditions have a hand in telling us what is boring and what is cool. I think writers have always been cool in most colures and circles though. :)
But then, in all of us, there is a bit of the artist. I was watching that surgeon show on Netflix, "The Surgeon's Cut". Not that I can understand why anyone would want to be a surgeon, but I do see precisely how even that can be elevated to art.
It's art, baby, that's all it is. Make art. Then nothing's boring.
But here's where we might diverge: I don't believe that art is in the medium itself. A lawyer can be artistic in their supposedly unartistic craft. Someone practicing 'creative writing' can be spurring the act from a formulaic, artless decrepit pit.
What argue is not that people don't want to be artist, but rather that this is precisely what people want. To express themselves through their thoughts, feelings, actions, and ultimately impact. They've just been duped into thinking that that comes from the medium. Things most people easily associate with 'artistic' like music, making.
In your example of white lab coats and excel sheets you're
PS this is not to say all finance people or lawyers or artistic in their work. Most of them are not. But that's no different than most artists (writers, painters, musicians, etc).
Trust me. After reading
The exact comment was - what can Marcus talk to me about? Cooking? No thanks.
Because society back home still seeing cooking as a female job as opposed to a career, they declared that what Marcus does is boring and unimportant. While in the US, it is so easy to see many people's passion being cooking.
My point is that even society/culture/traditions have a hand in telling us what is boring and what is cool. I think writers have always been cool in most colures and circles though. :)