We admire the actor who perseveres for years in obscurity, certain of his/her talent, who eventually achieves success and recognition. But when that same person was our restaurant waiter, telling us he/she is really an actor, we smile and think “good luck.” Knowing when to topple that wall, and when to go around it, can be difficult to discern when we are lost in the passion of our pursuit. Perhaps we should steal a page from finance, and embrace a bit of diversification? Pursue your goal, but have a few other side hustles, so if the goal starts to become that Sisyphean boulder, at least we can bypass it at some point and pivot to one of our side hustles.
Yes, I can appreciate that thought. It is a useful heuristic to thinking about life that should be applied outside of finance. And your analogy of the actor makes me think about how difficult it is to maintain an accurate perspective on those stories. Our sample is based on the success stories that we see. Thank you for the intriguing thoughts and the comment, John.
Camus's essay is about the absurdity of life and the question of suicide. Sysiphus is about the futility of his daily task, but having chosen life, we can indeed imagine him happy, as Camus states, despite that rock. (Camus does talk about physical exertion and repetition.)
These aren't the themes or philosophy being addressed by Sontag.
I'm not sure what Sontag piece you are referencing although, in regard to themes, the lines that I quoted were the spur for my own thinking—with my paragraphs, ideally, a reflection of those moments. Thank you for the comment, Caz.
Perhaps it comes down to the muscle we are building while pushing against the immovable obstacle rather than focusing on the end goal that sits behind it. Sometimes it's in the striving that we find meaning and satisfaction. The time to quit may be when we are neither being fed by the struggle nor likely to move the obstacle.
But rarely can we view our plight with such acute objectivity.
We admire the actor who perseveres for years in obscurity, certain of his/her talent, who eventually achieves success and recognition. But when that same person was our restaurant waiter, telling us he/she is really an actor, we smile and think “good luck.” Knowing when to topple that wall, and when to go around it, can be difficult to discern when we are lost in the passion of our pursuit. Perhaps we should steal a page from finance, and embrace a bit of diversification? Pursue your goal, but have a few other side hustles, so if the goal starts to become that Sisyphean boulder, at least we can bypass it at some point and pivot to one of our side hustles.
Yes, I can appreciate that thought. It is a useful heuristic to thinking about life that should be applied outside of finance. And your analogy of the actor makes me think about how difficult it is to maintain an accurate perspective on those stories. Our sample is based on the success stories that we see. Thank you for the intriguing thoughts and the comment, John.
Camus's essay is about the absurdity of life and the question of suicide. Sysiphus is about the futility of his daily task, but having chosen life, we can indeed imagine him happy, as Camus states, despite that rock. (Camus does talk about physical exertion and repetition.)
These aren't the themes or philosophy being addressed by Sontag.
I'm not sure what Sontag piece you are referencing although, in regard to themes, the lines that I quoted were the spur for my own thinking—with my paragraphs, ideally, a reflection of those moments. Thank you for the comment, Caz.
Ugh, Simone, not Sontag!
No idea why I had Sontag in my head by the time I got to the comments.
Thoughtful piece.
Perhaps it comes down to the muscle we are building while pushing against the immovable obstacle rather than focusing on the end goal that sits behind it. Sometimes it's in the striving that we find meaning and satisfaction. The time to quit may be when we are neither being fed by the struggle nor likely to move the obstacle.
But rarely can we view our plight with such acute objectivity.
Yes, certainly, that seems to be the best approach, regardless of the situation and despite the difficulty. Thank you for the comment, John.