Do What You Love: A Link
Read the Paul Graham blog about loving what you do, doing what you love, work, play, and growing up.
2009-July-21
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At the substantial risk of wearing out my welcome, I find that Mr. Graham’s amazingly verbose essay probably did not have the effect on me that he intended. While I am sure that he intended it to be an uplifting motivational piece, I found that it left me with more questions about Mr. Graham than inspiration.
I wonder how old he is, and what he does for a living.
His writing has the Poly-Anna feel of a lecture by a 30-something liberal arts professor who is admonishing his class to “Go out there and change the world!” Which of course only sets them up for failure, since the free will with which God graced us all makes it impossible for us to change anyone other than ourselves. (Individually)
I wonder if he understands that happiness is an entirely voluntary state of being?
Does he understand that the unhappy banker he observed as a youth would likely have been just as unhappy regardless of his profession?
I wonder if he has lived long enough that his chosen profession, while still very enjoyable, no longer offers the challenge that it once did. Has he ever reached the point where there are other things that he would like to try before he retires, but realizes that no one would pay him enough to pay the bills in any other profession because he has no experience.
I wonder if he knows the travails of the tens of thousands of students who graduate every year with an engineering degree, each certain that he is embarking on a carrier doing something he loves, only to discover that every job opening he finds has hundreds or even thousands of applicants, 90% of which have decades of experience in the exact specialty desired. (While he has none.)
I wonder if he has ever experienced the quandary of Michael Douglas’ character in the movie Falling Down. Has Mr. Graham ever been forced from a job that he loved because he was “…overqualified but undereducated, or was it the other way around?”
Personally I found the article wordy and shallow. But I pray that Mr Graham never sees the day that he understands my perspective.
Comment by Walter Moore — 2009-July-22 @ 12:44
Your welcome is permanent and grows with each visit.
Comment by Tim — 2009-July-22 @ 04:53