Saturday, March 21, 2009

Actually doing

Had some incredible epiphanies tonight. Most people would rather strive towards a goal than actually get there. Wanting to do happens more than actually doing. In Paul Thomas Anderson's words, we're all too concerned with building the boat when we could just be building the boat. I think in a way people set themselves up to constantly be headed towards their goal instead of actually achieving it. They don't want people to tell them how good they are, they just want to dream about that (maybe because dreaming can last longer). It's sort of what the American dream is founded, the idea, the notion, that you could get to the top. What happens when we get to the top? We could be told we're great or that we suck, and we'll fall right back down. We cushion ourselves from the acme of success, we're always struggling.

I hope the same sense of profundity sticks with me. I can't just write this off in some practical way.

3 comments:

- said...
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- said...

I agree completely. I read this quote from Bill Clinton in an unrelated interview, wherein he was asked to describe any common traits he saw among the successful people he'd met. He said there was only one: At some point in their lives, every successful person he knew realized their actions in the present have a direct effect on their existence in the future.

Unknown said...

I have a similar quote for you. It's from Alan Moore:
“Quitting my job and starting my life as a writer was a tremendous risk. It was a fool’s leap, a shot in the dark,” Moore says, his eyes locked to the camera. “But anything of any value in our lives--whether that be a career, a work of art, a relationship--will always start with such a leap. And in order to be able to make it you have to put aside the fear of failing and the desire of succeeding.”