Here's a little blog entry where a teaching artist gets philosophical about the rewards (or not) of being a dedicated artist Fishing in the Bathtub.
With a somewhat similar theme, below is a blog excerpt from Adam Myerson, a bike-racing friend of mine who got punched in the head at cyclocross nationals last week and blogged about it.
Bike racing is just a stupid little game we play as a way to make our lives mean more than the drudgery of day-to-day existence. Our lives really aren’t that hard, just boring. Work, shopping, eating, cleaning – those things are tedious and monotonous and unfulfilling for most of us. We need our lives to be difficult for them to have meaning, and bike racing, like most games or sports, is a way to set up an artificial, safe, inconsequential construct that lets us experience a struggle that feels real, feels meaningful and emotional, but has no actual consequences. No actual consequences, that is, until one person punches another over something that happens in the game.
What makes some people want to work hard with little-to-no hope of pecuniary compensation, especially in this society where most people gauge success and failure by dollar amounts? Why pedal a bike thousands of miles every year, why train and compete? Why study and play jazz guitar? To those who don't "get it", it appears to be a senseless struggle and a stupid way to live a life.
Maybe I can't explain it but to those folks who think that simply winning the lottery or inheriting a fortune will make them successful... well, I don't get it.
Winning the lottery or inheriting a lot of money will not make one happy. In fact, almost a third of the lottery winners end up bankrupt and inherited money is spent very quickly. Usually in less than two years.
Even the least of jobs offer a chance to be completed to the best of one`s ability regardless if it is appreciated or not. A well done job is it`s own reward.
In sports, the arts, and especially in life one should strive to attain the full measure one is capable of achieving. It may not bring happiness but will bring a fulfilled life.
I may not "get" a lot of things but I definitely "get" you. It may not always seem that way - day to day life as a married couple is not always smooth. When I first met you, I knew you had a life journey that was not planned but going in your own unique direction. I came along for the ride and am enjoying it everyday. B.
Posted by: Bev at December 23, 2008 01:26 PMJust yesterday I called my coach , to tell him how much a simple function of running changed my life .
I am very glad to see that although he quit athletics altogether , his restaurant business ( all three ) is magnificent and includes catering for ten thousand people .
When he coached us , ha had nothing but frustrations and only occasional happy days .
What does not kill us ...
Posted by: wojtek at December 23, 2008 04:45 PM