Faulkner once complained, “It’s a shame that the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day is work. He can’t eat for eight hours; he can’t drink for eight hours; he can’t make love for eight hours. The only thing a man can do for eight hours is work.” Yet so often we try to do all of those other things in an effort to actively avoid work, to shun it the way we push aside our siblings and parents in public when we think we are being cool or brave or somehow forging ahead with the strength and passion of a singular dedicated soul. I think we do this–I do this–as an instinctive emotional response, this avoidance. I for one try to avoid putting myself in the path of failure. I do too much of what is easy or what plays to my strengths and not enough of what is hard for me and what I need to do to be a better person and to be a more developed me.
Ann Landers writes, “To those who need encouragement, remember this: beware of quitting too soon. Dr. Seuss’s first children’s book was rejected by twenty-three publishers. The twenty-fourth publisher sold six million copies.” I could’ve found a similar quote for JK Rowling or Dan Brown. The point being made is simple. Work can be a refuge, a temple, an opportunity, or just a long fail. It is a canvas that I must make full use of in order to reach my potential. Even if I fail–at writing, at teaching–the trying is the real thing. Getting to be the best I can be is the real thing.
Some Thoughts:
- I’m using WordPress 4.0 (Benny) for the first time. It feels the same visually, but I’m looking forward to exploring what has changed under the hood.
- Football is back and the Packers still suck. This makes me feel bad for my eldest as he is slowly becoming a Packers fan.