Cartoon Pen & Watercolour 8″ x 12″
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Copyright 2010 Jean Burman
Some people lead uninspired lives. Lives that have not been fully lived. Lives that have not been tested in any way. For one reason or another… at some point along the way… they have chosen to tread the safe path [or maybe the safe path has chosen them]. They live each day underwhelmed and uninspired in the hope that [one day] things will get better.
We can’t know before we have done it… how successful we might ultimately be.
We have to do it… we have to try… and sometimes we will fail.
But we can’t underestimate the power of failure in achieving that ultimate success.
It is human nature to resist change. To play it safe. To make compromises.
We stay in that dead end job [or that damaging relationship] way past any reasonable expiry date… and dream of the day… when we can DO… BE… or HAVE something better. We make plans and we dream… but somehow… with each passing day the plan becomes just that much harder to do and the dream becomes all the more impossible to imagine. We stop taking risks. We stop living life.
But what if the unthinkable should happen?
What if we were to suddenly lose everything?
Job. Home. Health. Marriage. Family. Friends. Life as we knew it.
What if we lost what we had worked our whole lives for?
What if we lost… everything?
And what if we had nothing left to go on with but… ourselves?
If that scares you… it should.
It happens to someone… somewhere… every day.
But despite what you might imagine… people rarely die from it.
On the contrary… they have been known to thrive from it!
Sometimes failure isn’t the disaster we initially thought it might be. And sometimes… it can be the catalyst for achieving great things. With nothing left to lose… some of the wildest most “way out of this world dreams” can [and do] come to life!
Without a safety net… things look a little bit sharper. We are forced to look at life in new and different ways. We have to become inventive and innovative in everything we do. We have to strategise a new approach to [pretty much] everything.
The importance of DOING WHAT YOU LOVE… has been the resounding and reaffirming message coming at me from almost every direction this week. It has been whispering to me through news articles… dropping into my inbox on a daily basis… and screaming out from pod casts on the net. The Universe has been speaking… and I have been listening. So I couldn’t help but write about it here!
JK Rowling in her address to the Harvard Alumni Association talked of the fringe benefits of failure and the importance of imagination in the achievement of any form of success. She spoke in candid terms about the failure that would eventually lead to her greatest success. With a small child and a broken marriage behind her… and a degree gained half-heartedly in an area of little interest… JK found herself with nothing… and at the lowest possible ebb.
“Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself I was anything other than what I really was and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that REALLY MATTERED to me.
HAD I REALLY SUCCEEDED AT ANYTHING ELSE… I may never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena where I believed I truly belonged.
I WAS SET FREE… because my greatest fear had been realised… and I was still alive... and I still had a daughter whom I adored… and I had an old typewriter and a big idea!
And so ROCK BOTTOM became the SOLID FOUNDATION upon which I rebuilt my life.
Some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something. Unless you’ve lived so cautiously that you might as well have not lived at all. In which case… you failed by default”
J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.
Despite our fear of it… failure is rarely ever an entirely bad thing… or something to be avoided at all cost. Sometimes it leads us to the truth. The truth of what [and who] we truly are… or could be.
When push comes to shove… we must do what we love. If we don’t know what that is… then we need to find out!
Doing what we love is our [soul] purpose in life. Success is our reward for finding it.
[Acknowledging my good friend - fellow blogger - and successful author Andrew Griffiths who recently posted this video clip on his blog for the inspiration of all. Thanks AG... it worked for me!]
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
This is a wonderful post, Jean, and I wholeheartedly agree with all that you say. I do have a couple of observations. Or maybe they’re questions that haven’t yet been fully framed as such. It seems to me there’s a big difference between failure and perceived failure, or what we experience as failure when it isn’t. J.K. Rowling speaks of hitting rock bottom before hitting it big, but I wonder how she would be thinking about her life had she written a book and been unable to publish it. Is she only now, in the aftermath of astounding success, able to see what she had back when she felt she’d hit the bottom? Did her “big idea” become big to her only in retrospect, or could she have written the book, been happy with what she’d accomplished, and then continued to feel fulfilled had it faced repeated rejection. I also wonder if there’s a danger for the rest of us in her “lesson.” And is hers a lesson in being happy with one’s blessings, gifts, and the pursuit of satisfaction no matter what (as indeed yours is), or is her lesson about some conventional notion of success being out there as long as we keep on trucking.
There’s no such thing as failure, only preparation for the next step.
First of all… thanks for reading and offering your valued comments John
I understand completely what you are saying and agree that the question needs to be asked. The difference between failure and perceived failure is subjective of course. And history proves that not all great work was recognised and rewarded in the creator’s life time. Somehow or other though… the work that was destined for success managed to find it’s way out there… one way or the other. JK Rowling was rejected by 12 publishers before finally gaining acceptance from Bloomsbury [purportedly on the advice of the CEO's 8 year old daughter]. Double Day rejected Stephen King’s first novel… so he binned it and took on a teaching job. John Grisham’s first novel was rejected by 16 agents and a dozen publishers before his work was accepted and he went on to become one of the best selling novelists of all time.
Chance does play a part. And success is capricious at best. But dogged determination to succeed cannot be underestimated. I reckon if the work is good enough and the belief in it is great enough… then fate will align toward success.
Whether success can [or should] be measured in material terms can [I guess] only be answered by the person who creates the work… their hopes plans and dreams for it. I think it would have been difficult for JK to go on in the face of such rejection unless she knew what she had was worth it. And she believed in it 100%. Not sure I could be so strong! LOL But I guess when it’s all said and done… there are big advantages for the artist/author/creator who gets to do what they love to do AND by so doing… receives payment [and perhaps success] for the privilege! Best of both worlds there I reckon! Grin.
It was so much fun to get back into character again with a new cartoon. Have missed those little guys. They are so much fun to do and I just love how you get to convey the message with the weight of a hundred pound sledge hammer… instead of like conventional art… where viewers have to pussy foot around umming and ahhing about the deep and meaningful metaphors the artist was attempting to convey. It’s all hogwash really. Often the artists themselves can’t even tell you that. Cartoons are just plain honest. I like that.
I read you every day,but don’t post often because,unlike John,I don’t type well(lol) Great post Jean. I am heading off in May on another trip. A cruise ending in Barcelona, a city that I have always wanted to see. From there I will be taking a train to Marseilles to visit with the family of the young man staying with me this year and then to Paris and home.
Roger… it’s always so great to see you here. I know you don’t type… so the effort to comment is especially appreciated. Your travelling life sounds amazing. All those wonderful places to see. Things to do. People to meet. I’ve not been to Barcelona yet either… nor Marseilles. Paris is a wonderful city and I’d love to go back there some day. I see travel as my next big step forward from here. I hope so anyway. We shall see. You will take your sketch book with you so we get to see what you saw on your travels? Have fun!
Well said, Jean! Although similar thoughts roll around vaguely in my mind, I would never have been able to convey them like you did. I find the Universe has been tossing similar messages at me. I love reading your blog! You are so inspiring.
Waving hello to John and Roger.
And a big hiya back to Roger and Vernita!
Jean, I hope you didn’t get me wrong. I don’t begrudge Ms. Rowling her success for a minute. Indeed I have deep admiration for what she has accomplished
You’re absolutely right about success being subjective. I was really just thinking out loud, or rather, letting my fingers do the talking. My basic thought is that many people buy into the conventional notions of success being all about fame and money, and fail to live rich lives while they nurture their illusory dreams with the success stories of the rich and famous. And indeed, it’s always those who are successful who urge others not to give up their dreams.
No… not at all John! It’s good to mull it over so that we might see things in their true light. You are so right that success is very often measured in financial terms nowadays… that’s a fact undeniable… and to some degree regrettable as well. But sadly I guess… that’s where the clout lies. I was reading the other day about a Jane Austen enthusiast who [as a cheeky experiment] sent off opening chapters and plot synopses of her stories to 18 of the biggest publishers in the UK and received back polite but firm rejections from each and every one. All failed to realise that he had ripped off one of the world’s most famous literary figures! What would “Jane” do I wondered! (((chuckles)))
Hi Vernita
Thanks for the lovely comments… very much appreciated. Isn’t it funny how the Universe does that? It seemed this week as though everything I opened and read or touched upon conveyed this exact same message. It was compelling to say the least… and demanded to be passed on! I was just doing as I was told. Which is a bit unlike me these days (((chuckles)))
Dear Jean,
This is an exceptional post and some very good comments shared by your followers as well. Clearly this is a topic close to many people’s heart. I do agree with you that when you hit rock bottom, there is a sense of freedom that comes with that. The journey back up can begin with a completely new state of mind, which in most ways is a much better state of mind.
I know that not everyone makes the journey back, some people sadly languish for the rest of their life at the bottom and in many ways it becomes their safe zone and what they are familiar with (and perhaps even a way to get attention – hence the victim mentality).
For others the freedom comes from not having to hold on so tight to everything in their world (whether it deserves to be held onto or not) and this sense of liberation can often help to drive them forward to achieve the things in life that are important, significant and real.
I think that the ability to live a really honest life (and I mean honest with ourselves), doing what we love and living free of fear, is the key to joy and happiness that so many of us are searching for.
Powerful stuff indeed. Thanks once again Jean. This is very thought provoking stuff.
Have a magnificently successful day doing what your “inner voice” is telling you you should be doing.
Cheers,
Andrew
Hi Andrew
I do wish that it could be so… instead I am sitting at the airport waiting for a plane! I have a couple of exciting projects this month [another television commercial and more musomagic! yay!] that will take me back and forth to Cairns just for the next short while. So I haven’t quite said goodbye to the place yet.
Thanks so much for your comments here. Wise words… very much appreciated! To me… it just makes a lot of sense to do what you love. It almost seems too simple though. And it is I guess. But wouldn’t it be a cool world to live in if everyone was doing what they loved and giving it all they’ve got! I know I’m a dreamer [can't help myself]… but it doesn’t hurt to dream a little does it? … as long as the dream is driven by some action. I’ll be giving it my best shot. LOL Thanks again!
SUCCESS is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.
Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag to-day
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of victory,
As he, defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Break, agonized and clear.
Emily Dickinson
Beautiful isn’t it? Thanks John.
I’m here. Arrived in the middle of a tropical downpour. They tell me it’s been raining here for three weeks straight. The place misses me… *sigh* (((chuckles)))
Every Emily Dickinson poem can be sung to “The Yellow Rose of Texas” LOL
Gosh… that’s no small feat Roger! LOL It has an interesting rhythm as well.
7/6/7/6
8/6/7/6
7/6/7/6
I’ve been trying to figure it out [maybe John can tell us] And here’s me who can’t manage to write a shopping list without slipping into rhyming verse… well… [grin]
My guess is as good as anyone’s. [grin] One possibility is that the “le” of purple elides with “host” to make what in the reading of it is effectively one syllable. But in fact that extra little beat in there adds drama, and at the same time flows better into the next line. Quite brilliant actually.
It is beautiful… if ever so off beat. But therein perhaps lies it’s magic. My predictable nature however would have preferred it
[maybe]
SUCCESS is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.
Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag to-day
Can tell the definition,
[So clear, of victory made]
As he, defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Break, agonized and clear.
How so VERY arrogant of me… this is Emily Dickinson! (((LOL)))
This is a very inspiring post, Jean, and I just love your “Push On” illustration.
Hi Kristeena
Thanks for mentioning the cartoon [really appreciate that!]… and so glad you liked it! I loved painting that Rock Pile… who ever said going back to the rock pile can’t be fun?! [chuckles]