What do you do when you're not writing?
I'm a pharmacy technician and paid non-fiction blogger (mostly ghost-blogging), but I want to go to medical school and move to Paraguay. I still like to play pretend, and I want to end my wedding reception with a lightsaber fight. Like me, I bet you also have thousands of different parts to you, each with its own desires and hopes. How do you balance them? Do you hone them down and decide some are more important than others?
Soldiers sacrifice. If someone has to die for the sum cause, they will, and I guess if you have to drop a dream, you have to drop a dream. But when it comes to dreams, I prefer the Ben Tennyson philosophy.
(Ben is the guy in the green jacket, about to turn into swampfire. Yes, it's a children's cartoon. = P)
In one episode of Ben 10 Alien Force, Ben chooses to save someone's life instead of stopping the DNAliens from getting technology that lets them conquer the world. The guy protests, but Ben says,
"No sacrifices," saves the guy's life, and ends up stopping the DNAliens anyway.
No sacrifices. I really like that. Now, Ben can turn into over 40 different aliens (last time I counted), so he's got a bit of an advantage over you and me, but you and I also have different sides and talents. I suspect that just as Ben has to turn on the right alien for the right task, you and I have to 'turn on' the right skill or self for different times. And maybe coordinating and adapting our 'selves' is the key to grabbing the time and space we need to get all our dreams accomplished.
Just ideas. I know, in the end, that sometimes we have to prioritize, but I think more often than not, we give up too easily on our dreams--because we're unwilling to sacrifice ourselves for them. Ben won't sacrifice anyone else for the goal, but he puts himself in harm's way and adapts himself to fit the need of the situation. Am I willing to change and accept critique, at the cost of my pride-self? Am I willing to trade a little less sleep for a little more time to get things done? Can I write or work instead of watching Ben 10 cartoons? (Of course not! =P Just kidding)
Call me crazy, but I think I can go to medical school and become a fabulous fiction writer, and still have love and time to give to my family and friends. It may take some shape-shifting, but I'm with Ben.
"No sacrifices."
What do you think?
I'm a pharmacy technician and paid non-fiction blogger (mostly ghost-blogging), but I want to go to medical school and move to Paraguay. I still like to play pretend, and I want to end my wedding reception with a lightsaber fight. Like me, I bet you also have thousands of different parts to you, each with its own desires and hopes. How do you balance them? Do you hone them down and decide some are more important than others?
Soldiers sacrifice. If someone has to die for the sum cause, they will, and I guess if you have to drop a dream, you have to drop a dream. But when it comes to dreams, I prefer the Ben Tennyson philosophy.
(Ben is the guy in the green jacket, about to turn into swampfire. Yes, it's a children's cartoon. = P)
In one episode of Ben 10 Alien Force, Ben chooses to save someone's life instead of stopping the DNAliens from getting technology that lets them conquer the world. The guy protests, but Ben says,
"No sacrifices," saves the guy's life, and ends up stopping the DNAliens anyway.
No sacrifices. I really like that. Now, Ben can turn into over 40 different aliens (last time I counted), so he's got a bit of an advantage over you and me, but you and I also have different sides and talents. I suspect that just as Ben has to turn on the right alien for the right task, you and I have to 'turn on' the right skill or self for different times. And maybe coordinating and adapting our 'selves' is the key to grabbing the time and space we need to get all our dreams accomplished.
Just ideas. I know, in the end, that sometimes we have to prioritize, but I think more often than not, we give up too easily on our dreams--because we're unwilling to sacrifice ourselves for them. Ben won't sacrifice anyone else for the goal, but he puts himself in harm's way and adapts himself to fit the need of the situation. Am I willing to change and accept critique, at the cost of my pride-self? Am I willing to trade a little less sleep for a little more time to get things done? Can I write or work instead of watching Ben 10 cartoons? (Of course not! =P Just kidding)
Call me crazy, but I think I can go to medical school and become a fabulous fiction writer, and still have love and time to give to my family and friends. It may take some shape-shifting, but I'm with Ben.
"No sacrifices."
What do you think?
You can do it all! Lve your page--good luck with #pitchlive :)
ReplyDeleteAw, thanks so much! It went very well. = ) How'd the conference go for you?
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