Invest in yourself
Certain things just aren’t for you, and that’s just life
We often blame ourselves for not understanding how to do certain things. We often try so hard to learn something, just to find out, someone was able to do it so fluently without much effort. Why is it that certain people do certain things much more easily than others? The fact of the matter is that, there is something for and within each and every one of us. Finding that “thing” may seem rather more difficult for some, but it is there, and there are simpler ways to recognize it.
One of my favorite scenes from Good Will Hunting portrays an important message about how some things just make sense to certain people, as though it comes natural to them, and there’s no need to explain or justify it.
This doesn’t only apply to those who are gifted, because I believe that all are gifted, in some way, simply because there’s something in everyone that allows them to desire certain things over others, that they do with enjoyment, and almost effortlessly.
Skylar: “you do it so easily, I don’t understand”
Will: “Do you play the piano?”
Skylar: “Yeah, a bit”
Will: “When you look at the piano you see..”
Skylar: “I see chopsticks”
Will: “all right, well Beethoven, he looked at the piano, and it just made sense, he could just play”
Skylar: “So what are you saying, you play the piano?”
Will: “No, not a lick, I mean I look at the piano I see a bunch of keys, three pedals and a box of wood. But Beethoven, Mozart, they saw it, they saw it they could just play. I couldn’t paint you a picture, I probably can’t hit the ball out of Fenway, and I can’t play the piano..”
Skylar: “but you can do my O-chem paper in under an hour”
Will: “right well when it came to stuff like that, I could always just play…that’s the best I can explain it”
Some people can just see it, they don’t need years and years of trying and learning to understand it, it just makes sense to them, they could just play.
You might be afraid of not knowing what your “thing” is
It is true, that some people have it easier than others, that some people know about their gift, quicker than most. But, I’m a believer, that everyone does truly have a thing inside them, even if they might struggle to see it, they will see it eventually. And, even if it doesn’t seem as interesting as you thought, maybe that’s the beauty of it. Maybe the simplicity of it is merely what makes it so great. Like a passion for coffee, or taking photographs, or talking to people. The truth is that, you can absolutely make something out of anything. As long as you’re enjoying the process of it, you can make something great out of it.
Believing in yourself, take it where it can take you..
So, no matter what that thing is, just go for it. Even if it seems stupid, unexpected of you, nobody really cares. Trusting your gut only takes you so far. And when you decide on it, go for it, and take it seriously. Everyone always starts somewhere. The people you may look up to, didn’t just get there instantaneously, they started somewhere, just like you.
If you like taking pictures, then take as many as you can, and post them somewhere, even if they’re bad. Even if you don’t have the right equipment yet, work with what you have. Learn about cameras, and how they work, and then buy one. Invest in yourself.
There is a reason why some taxi drivers like talking to people, they’re good at it, they like it. You might find yourself wondering how someone can sit in a car seat driving around all day, but taxi drivers don’t see it that way. They see it as exploring new places of the city, meeting new and different types of people, with different stories. They see it as a therapeutic ride with the wind hitting against their faces, with the perfect amount of coldness hitting their arms, and without a worry on their shoulders. They just know places and know how to drive, it just makes sense.
Take yourself seriously, believe in yourself even when no one seems to. Eventually, it will take you places, but you have to believe in it. You have to trust that there will be lots of rejection, and know how to deal with it.
Know how to deal with rejection, because the path ahead will never be a steady one, but all the bumps are meant to make you better at what you do. Believe in those bumps, believe in the journey, believe that it’s all worth it.
Kobe Bryant once said:
“You have to dance beautifully in the box that you’re comfortable dancing in. My box was to be extremely ambitious within the sport of basketball. Your box is different than mine. Everybody has their own. It’s your job to try to perfect it and make it as beautiful of a canvas as you can make it. And if you have done that, then you have lived a successful life. You have lived with Mamba Mentality.”
The horrors of denying your “thing”
Not only will it haunt you for ever, come back to you no matter how much you push it away, remind you of its crave to be seen, but it will make you miserable. For whatever reason you might choose a different path than the one meant for you, whatever else you choose will always, undeniably feel forced. And nobody likes being forced into doing anything.
You might be pressured into things you don’t like by society, or by parents, and that’s one of the hardest, most draining, and tiresome struggles you can endure. It is like a wall getting in your way, locking you up, imprisoning you from the thing you love. There is no doubt, that fighting it can seem impossible, but it will always be worth fighting for. So keep fighting for it, no matter what it takes, no matter the sacrifices, no matter the consequences, fight for it like it’s your life.
Dead Poets Society, one of my favorite movies, to me, is simply a tragedy, because of the way it ended. Neil had finally found his thing, and he was undeniably good at it. His father was in his way, though, and it cost him his life. He tells Mr. Keating “I’m stuck”.
I feel like this photo, in this scene, best represents his whole struggle. He looks at his father from across the theatre, as everyone is applauding him for his astounding performance, and he just knows it isn’t going to end well. He knows there isn’t any sense of pride in his father.
The biggest issue with the traditional school system
A famous quote, maybe overused, but a great message indeed. It’s as simple as that:
You cannot judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree. You cannot blame Skylar for seeing chopsticks when she looks at the piano, you cannot grade a student on a subject he doesn’t see.
“Don’t try” Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski’s great philosophy plays a role here. If you don’t love it, if it doesn’t make sense to you, then don’t try at all. If it keeps coming back to you, screaming at you, begging you to try, then try, and if you’re going to try, then go all the way.
“We work too hard. We try too hard,” Bukowski writes to Packard. “Don’t try. Don’t work. It’s there. Looking right at us, aching to kick out of the closed womb.” He may have meant, as the video’s narrator puts it, that “if you have to try to try, if you have to try to care about something or have to try to want something, perhaps you don’t care about it, and perhaps you don’t want it.” And “if the thought of not doing the thing hurts more than the thought of potentially suffering through the process, if the thought of a life without it or never having tried it at all terrifies you, if it comes to you, through you, out of you, almost as if you’re not trying, perhaps Bukowski might say here, try, and ‘if you’re going to try, go all the way.’” That quote comes from Bukowski’s novel Factotum — the story of a writer in search of blue-collar work that won’t get in the way of his one true craft — and we might do well to take it one sentence further: “Otherwise, don’t even start.” — Don’t try
I believe in Bukowski’s philosophy, but to a certain extent, because at times, we have to do things we don’t like. But, only temporarily, and maybe for a bigger reward in the future.
But you must always listen to your gut, let it set your path, because you’ll always regret having not tried at all. So don’t deny your love for your craft, but rather, embrace it. Even if it might be embarrassing, do it, and go all the way. Dare to be different. There is so much beauty in that.
