“One of the things the professional artist gives up is the thrill of the manic high. I used to be manic, about twenty years ago, when there was a sliver of something working. Things were really brutal at work, with rejections and near-business-death experiences coming daily, and I grabbed hold of any positive feedback really tightly.
Now, I’m delighted to say. not so much. Which means the highs aren’t as high. The successes are about the privilege of doing more work, not about winning. When my Kickstarter project for this book met its funding goal in less than three hours. I didn’t do the line-kicking dance reserved for TV celebrations. Instead. I took out my laptop and got to work. That is the greatest privilege I can imagine.” | Seth Godin, The Icarus Deception
I thought about this paragraph today. It is tempting to think of life as a quest to keep notching up wins.
In truth, life is just an infinite game. The greatest gift is to just play, follow a great process, and remind ourselves that happiness doesn’t lie in the destination but the journey.
The highs then cease to be as high and the lows stop being as low. After all, it’s just about plugging away and doing our bit to make this world better. This is easier on some days and harder on others. It’s a gift to just be able to play. Let’s do it well and have fun while we are at it.
A Learning a Day 