One Thing

Couple weeks back, I was listening to this TED talk by an actor I really like and he talked a lot about being looked down upon and about being a "loser". Obviously, he's as far away from a loser as you can possibly get. And he ended on a really interesting note, he said

Don't let anyone bullshit you into thinking you can only ever be good at one thing. Because that destroys so much.

Now, this is an opinion a lot of people seem to share - that you can only do one thing and that alone. Careers. A lot of people focus on careers and do just that. Your job and just that. Doesn't it sound tedious?
These people, they study all day every day or they go to work, come home, then work again. I know such people. There's a whole lot of them out there. And it's weird, 'cause this is or at least can be true of creative people as well.

I want to be a writer. So all I'll ever do is write.

I want to be a singer and all I'll ever do is sing.

You get the idea.

Except that's a really fast track into burnout, into depression and other nasty shit that might seriously impede you ever creating again, you know?

Do one thing and do it well.

Right, sounds cute and all, but doesn't really work. You can't just do one thing because you will exhaust yourself and all that passion you had for it (if you were lucky enough to have any) will drain faster than you think. And people who adhere to the above motto will say that's not true passion then. If you can get tired and grow to hate what you're doing, then maybe you weren't meant to do it in the first place.

But I don't think that's true. I don't think that's how it works. I think you were supposed to do it and maybe, hopefully you're even good at it. Doesn't change a damn thing. If you plunge head first into that and that alone, then eventually you will run out of air and drown.

Might sound a tad redundant, but people need air. And it's hobbies and entertainment and events and friendships that provide those little bubbles of air that then allow you to go back to your main thing.

I'm not good at this, so I won't waste my time.

Well yes, but you're not giving yourself time to grow. Of course you're shit now, but maybe if you did it (as a hobby) for two years, you wouldn't be so bad. Sure, you won't be Picasso or Mikhail Baryshnikov or Marlon Brando. But chances are you'll be a lot better than you are now. And you'll probably be going back to your "main thing" happier and with renewed interest. You know, sometimes you need to step away for a bit just to remember how much you enjoy doing it in the first place.

There's this trend to downplay everything that won't serve you professionally. Oh so you take dancing classes? Aha. What do you plan to do with them? Do you want to go into that? Then why are you taking them? You're wasting your time. You'll never amount to anything.

Horrible mentality, if you ask me, but it does exist. And it's quite common. You don't need to do something just in the hope that one day you might make money out of it. The only motivation you need to do something is that you enjoy it.

I spent yesterday drawing, for a contest. I'm not great at drawing. My grandfather was a very talented man, but sadly, most of the drawing gene went to the other side of the family. Still, can't complain, as I got the writing gene, as well as other traits that I like. Still, I draw decent. And most importantly, I enjoy it. I have fun doing it and it's one of the few things in which I can get completely, completely lost, I can shut out the rest of the world and it's an incredible feeling. So, I think I'll keep doing it, even though it's not going to amount to anything.

So,

Don't let anyone bullshit you into thinking you can only ever be good at one thing. Because that destroys so much.

And this guy, he's good at a whole lotta things, so maybe he knows what he's talking about.

The drawing is mine, with a sick filter. It's not great, but I like it. And more importantly, I enjoyed myself doing it.