"" bshawise: The Goose Is Loose

Friday, June 5, 2009

The Goose Is Loose


Last night, I was talking with friends/fellow creatives about the future. Not like hover-boards and the return of crystal pepsi. More like the big questions of future dreams/goals/purposes. You know, the stuff that torments us all. At any moment, if we want to, we can consider ourselves at a crossroads where we go left towards dreams, right towards making actual money, straight towards "I still have no idea where I'm going." My friends were asking my thoughts on their crossroads dilemma. They own a business. They need/want to make money. They also want/need to do work that brings them real satisfaction. Right now, those two things feel like different destinations. They feel they're at a crossroad where they either choose to make money and feed their family or they take a risk and chase a wild goose.

I'm only 30 years old. I'm aware I don't know a lot. Or anything, really. But I told my friends that I thought if they do whatever work is currently in front of them, and do it really really well, they'll eventually find their goose. It's happened to me. I knew a long time ago I didn't just want to graphic design. But I had a design job, so I did good work. That led me here where I'm doing more than just graphic design. I think that old parable rings pretty true.

The crazy thing I'm starting to find as I enter old age, is that even when you catch a goose it has the sneaky ability to get away and turn into something different. And usually, something even more fun to chase. So we can stand at the proverbial crossroads and think/talk/dream all we want. But it's unlikely we'll catch any wild goooooooses that way. Take a step in any direction, do good work, enjoy the chase. Oh, and eat your vitamins.

2 comments:

Steve Fuller said...

Hmmm...

I've never met one person who decided to stop doing something they weren't passionate about, in order to start doing something they were passionate about, and then regret it.

Martin said...

Brad...where did you get that picture of the kid with the question mark sign...that could be a cool one to put up in the classroom