A few weeks go, I wrote about Experience’s Beauty.
If you haven’t read it, you may want to start there. And if you have read it, you may want to read it again.
While experiences (especially new ones with great people) are quite blissful for me, I do think there’s a catch.
Experiences, by and large, are in-the-moment occurrences. Maybe you’re at a sporting event with a nice group of people. The thing is this only lasts for a few hours. Maybe you’re camping with people you love for a few days, in which case other new experiences will likely occur in addition to the experience of camping itself. Perhaps you’ll go on a hike, surf, run, or just have an interesting conversation with someone during your trip.
If I could just “experience” during all my waking hours, it’d be hard for me to turn down, provided I could make ends meet (which is what makes it hard, I think).
I do think some people are essentially doing this right now. I think professional athletes are experiencing everyday in their own way. Many who make it professionally have persisted at one time or another (probably many times) to fulfill their lifelong dreams. Same goes with the touring musician. Many have probably scraped by to follow their dream. Most were probably considered rebellious or misfits at some point. Perhaps they still are. Perhaps they’re touring, but haven’t “made it” yet. But they continue on their journey.
What I’m trying to get at is that at some point I’ve asked myself when should I say no to experiencing in order to say yes to the bigger picture problem. That is, what am I going to do with my life. What am I going to do to earn a living? What am I going to do for a significant part of my waking hours.
I may be able to do it “experiencing” in my idealistic sense of it. But thus far, I haven’t found it. But I also haven’t created it. So there’s still hope.
I’m beginning to ask myself if I should continue experiencing at the rate I have been. Again, going to the Mariner’s game, hiking, camping, floating the river, having a deep conversation with someone, writing, and traveling are all blissful.They’re all examples of what I mean by “experiencing”.
But the question I’m struggling with is: is that what I do? Is that who I am? Is that how I’ll make a living in this world?
Even if you have a 9-5 job, and experience a lot in your free time, I think you must ask yourself if life can be better for yourself. If you truly do love what you do 9-5, then I think you should just keep experiencing as you are. But if you aren’t happy, or you don’t truly love what you’re doing, perhaps you should focus your energy and attention on solving the bigger picture problem. Perhaps it should become your Top Idea In Your Mind. Because experiences, by themselves, are momentary. But doing something you don’t want to do for eight hours a day, for at least five days a week, can feel lifelong, because in a sense, it is. And it can take the life out of life.
While it may be one of the toughest problems to solve, there are successes. I think, at least in part, we envy success and fame because we haven’t had the determination to follow through on our dreams. But we all have them — for some, you just may need to dig a bit deeper to find them again.
That’s what’s so cool about kids. Kids are full of life. They have so much energy. They’re so curious and imaginative. They still believe in their dreams. They’re still determined.
I’m still a kid in that way. And never changing that part of me is one of my dreams.
March on.