Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Don't Follow Your Passion








Dawson outlines the problem well:




Dawson recounts a conversation with a recruiter named Nathanial Koloc:









In Dahl’s words:



Dahl writes:






Anonymous said...

To my limited knowledge, the modern concept of "Follow your bliss/emotions" is derived from Joseph Campbell. From his video/audio conversations at the Lucas Ranch.

Campbell's "Hero With A Thousand Faces" is supposed to be the inspiration for George Lucas' "Star Wars". And Lucas' Weltanschauunge (sp).

A highly commendable concept of life, IMHO.

Unfortunately, most people have not/do not have such an option. They must struggle thru life the best way they can, w/o Bliss.

I was v v fortunate. I became a reasonably successful writer. A bookworm all my life, Fortuna smiled upon me. After a series of hard work, ruinous setbacks, and curious chances.

I deem it unfortunate and painful for most people to expect Bliss from their work. A decent life w/loving family & friends is quite enough - indeed, Bliss enough. -- Rich Lara

Ares Olympus said...

Passion is a funny word. I remember reading Erich Fromm explaining why passion is effectively slavery and seeing love as the opposite of passion.

And it would seem to agree with this statement below - whatever you do, if you do it only because you feel compelled by external rewards or internal compulsion, you will experience suffering and resentment. So the trick is to take the time align your intention with your actions, and then you are the creator of your choices.


Back to Fromm... here's a quote from his book.
If we say love is an activity, we face a difficulty which lies in the ambiguous meaning of the word “activity.” By “activity,” in the modern sense of the word, is usually meant an action which brings about a change in an existing situation by means of an expenditure of energy.





He differentiates among the affects between active and passive affects, “actions” and “passions.” In the exercise of active affect, man is free, he is the master of his affect; in the exercise of a passive affect, man is driven, the object of motivations of which he himself is not aware.

Thus Spinoza arrives at the statement that virtue and power are one and the same. Envy, jealousy, ambition, any kind of greed are passions; love is an action, the practice of a human power, which can be practiced only in freedom and never as the result of a compulsion.


Anonymous said...

During an introspective conversation I asked a man how he managed a career (as a college professor) after enduring a persistent pattern in childhood of being mostly abused by his mother and ignored by his work obsessed father. He said, "I created a parent for myself. I did something I enjoyed and the money showed up in my bank account."

Business relationships must be recognized as interpersonal relationships if one truly wants to add value. To offer value you must recognize what other persons value: the idea that one delivers value for money and other compensation is based on the extension of interpersonal relationships into the sphere of commerce. However it is very possible to profit while destroying value such as during war, criminal behavior, or shifting costs onto others or the natural environment while creating a parent for oneself by having the money show up in your bank account.

Caedmon said...

"Nothing is fun when you have to do it." - Hunter S. Thompson