Come to The Artistic Career…
I'm focusing my blogging efforts on my (relatively) new site, The Artistic Career, so come on by. I don't know if I'll post any more here – it's plenty of work to keep up with one blog!
Are you a clone?
Are you a clone?
I am finishing up Kazuo Ishiguro's creepy novel Never Let Me Go (also a movie), about a group of kids raised from infancy in a special British boarding school for cloned kids. I won't say any more, in case you want to read it. But I will say that human cloning truly creeps me out, yet there's a little bit of natural intrigue there as well. Isn't that human nature – to be fascinated with that which repels us? (Today's Halloween, by the way).
The cloning theme reminded me of a much more mundane type of copycatting that is perhaps not creepy but that can be an impediment to doing what you want to do with your life.
I often ask people who their major influences have been and whom they most admire. It's inevitable that we learn from people who hold influence over us, for whatever reason. The people in our lives who are positive influences can be excellent motivators; if we know them personally, they can directly guide or mentor us to new levels.
This does not mean we should try to be just like them. In junior high, many of us tried to be clones of each other, or of the "cool" kids. You're not in junior high any more, thank god, yet some habits can linger. It pays to become aware of any tendencies you might have toward trying to mold yourself into a clone of your parents, teachers, friends, boss, mentors, or anyone else.
Trying to become a mini-whoever or a clone of someone we admire is exhausting and futile. Thinking you need to do things just as that person has done can suck the creative juices right out of your endeavor. It can feel phony as well as be extremely stressful to try to live up to another person's image or to try to mimic their approach step-by-step.
It's much better to ask yourself who you are and how other people can inform and inspire what you already know about yourself, rather than how you can mold yourself into a replica of that person.
(I know, Frankenstein wasn't a clone…but the picture works for the holiday and is pretty creepy, yes?)
Uncertainty in baseball and in life
Uncertainty in baseball and in life
Heads-up: This post is not really about baseball…
If you're a Texas Rangers fan, you might not want to read this post. Not that I'm really a Cardinals fan – I'm from Chicago and have seen what the Cardinals fans do to our helpless little stuffed bears in their baseball shirts. But Cubs fans do similarly nasty things to innocent stuffed cardinals, bright red with their pointy crests, so I suppose fair's fair.
In case you're not into it, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series Friday night in the 7th game, after the Rangers were twice one strike away from taking the Series in the 6th game. As the old saying goes, you just never know until the last man's out.
You never do completely know, do you? Life seems logical and predictable only until it isn't. You keep going for something, and most good things are worth the effort and the wait (more old sayings). Yet sometimes it just doesn't pan out (the Rangers), while other times your perseverance, hard effort, and teamwork hit the jackpot (the Cardinals).
What if you work your butt off toward a goal, and it doesn't work out as you'd planned or expected or dreamed? This is the chance you take by embarking on a path toward any goal. There is no certainty for anyone – not for the Rangers, and not for you.
The best any of us can do is get to know ourselves as well as we can, taking stock of where we are and what makes us tick, then develop a strong vision for where we would like to go. We can then establish goals and benchmarks toward our larger vision, and become skilled observers of the emotional roadblocks that stand in our way as we go along, learning how to set them aside and move forward.
Does this mean that we know for sure what the outcome will be? Certainly not, and our vision can change as we go along. But it does mean that we can keep checking in with the vision (our version of winning the World Series) and keep moving along in the direction we want to go. If, over time, our movements do not seem to be getting anywhere, we can change strategies while maintaining the vision.
The tricky balance is becoming comfortable not knowing for sure what will happen while maintaining the momentum to move toward what we want. Being able to accept a level of uncertainty in our lives and in each moment makes it easier to deal with the fact that life does not provide us with the safe parameters of a tidy 9 innings.
Hidden specialty
Do you have a hidden specialty?
You know how hairdressers have good stories about other people (sometimes referred to as gossip, but sometimes just interesting stories)? The other day, mine told me about his buddy in Omaha who has found a highly specialized way to make a living: he does nothing but repairing and detailing people's car wheels. He started off as a car repair generalist and, over time, moved toward this level of specialty. Apparently, he makes a lot of money doing so, and he knows just who in his community is most interested in keeping their wheels spiffy.
You're thinking "Great, I have no car wheel detailing skills, so what?" Me neither. But if you're looking around for ways to make a living without a job, the point is to think creatively about what you do know how to do. Consider all of your skills, even the ones you typically save for Sunday afternoon (are you good at shopping? organizing your files? making banana bread?).
If you get good enough at something, devote enough time and energy to it, and find people who will buy it (think "who lives in the upscale neighborhoods around here?"), you might be able to make at least part of your living doing it. People do earn money shopping for busy people, organizing the chaotic office or home, and baking their grandma's secret recipes…as well as shining up wheels. Might you be able to make something of the talents you take for granted?

Friday night I took the 