The Divine Discontent
Having pored over a lot of writers’ and artists’ diaries and letters for my Daily Rituals research, I can say that most of them never felt that their work fulfilled their ambitions. Or, if they did feel that way, it was only in brief surges of confidence, which could be tremendously satisfying and productive—but which never lasted as lo
... See moreMason Currey • What if your ambition outstrips your talent?
Great creative minds] think like artists but work like accountants.”
Cal Newport • Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Not being satisfied is what makes curiosity so satisfying.
Ian Leslie • Curious
But having an enviable career is one thing, and being a happy person is another.
Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is o... See more
Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is o... See more
Bill Watterson • SOME THOUGHTS ON THE REAL WORLD BY ONE WHO GLIMPSED IT AND FLED
So many of those who dedicate their careers to creativity have, like many of us, been motivated by a sometimes unconscious desire to reconcile the various contradictions of our era: between utility and transcendence, a yearning for greatness and a belief in the dignity of the everyday, between the work available and the work we want to do.