Archive for the ‘talents’ tag
“You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas.”
That sentence, spoken by Michael Brown
and accompanied by a gift of one year’s expenses,
sparked the creation Harper Lee’s greatest work -
To Kill a Mockingbird. I bring it up today because
she was born 82 years ago on this very day.
I also bring it up because it brings up
some interesting points about doing the One Big Thing -
the work that focuses your gifts, talents and callings.
The first is more of a question -
“even if I got a year’s worth of expenses covered,
would I be able to get the work done?”
I know I’d have problems doing it - it’s not the
shangri-la that it seems to be when viewed
from the vantage point of working a job
just to keep a roof over your head.
It would be a year of no excuses,
where the life work you wanted becomes work.
The job becomes a convenient excuse for
not doing your true work.
Maybe having a job that isn’t your true work,
but is more amenable to your true work is better option.
83 years ago today, T.S. Eliot took a position
at Faber & Faber, leaving his dreary
former position at Lloyd’s Bank.
The problem there is that even sort of true work
still becomes work, and thus a new source
of rationalization and procrastination.
If I had the perfect summarization to offer
on this subject, I would be offering it now.
I would also be a bit more renowned than I
am right now, which is to say that I would be renowned.
So I’m now back where I was before this,
but for these two hundred some-odd words.
Does anyone else have any ideas?
Tags: causes of procrastination, faber, harper lee, job escape from work, lloyd, merry christmas, michael brown, procrastination, rationalization, rationalization and procrastination, t s eliot, talents, to kill a mockingbird, true work