About Aims Beyond
Post 1515:
I want to write a little about motives and aspirations. Ambitions are sort of funny, even silly. The concept of ambition is an idea considered after “real life” and all its needs have been met or are being met. Ambition is what you turn toward after your health and well-being, at least basically, are taken care of.
Finding this minimal comfort is no easy task in itself. We don’t get the same lot in life or have the same number of breaks as the other person. It don’t work like that. I venture to say it never will.
So if you’re in a place where your goal is to simply get by or get along, I understand. Most of us have been there and will be again. Fundamental needs and health are the home base—the starting point for any desires or aims beyond the rudimentary.
It comes down to what you want to do and how much you want to do it.
Before I’m taken for the most pedantic guy to ever write a sentence, give me a sec.
Higher achievements and aspirations take tons of work. The motivation to do that work has to come from somewhere. For most people, I wonder about the source.
Pure motives are hard to come by. Speaking for myself, I’ve always wanted to be successful in the arts. Music, writing, performing, etc. But why?
Well, let’s start with some unvarnished truth. Motivating my work is a pretty decent amount of jealousy and insecurity. Sometimes I want to make the kind of things that entertain me because I look at other people’s work and it gnaws at me to do better than them. Of course I enjoy the act of creation (mostly), but it would be a lie to say that my motives are always pure.
A lot of men and women have said that life’s pursuits are vanity. This has always been a tough one for me to swallow. First, because it makes a lot of sense. I mean, even the biggest narcissists have to admit that they’re not the center of the universe when they’re being honest with themselves. Another thing—we’re not here for long and what we can actually control is sort of comical.
But that’s why it’s weird. If it’s all vanity, isn’t saying it’s all vanity a vanity itself? This is confusing stuff, because I know most of our desires do nothing but motivate us to chase the wind, and still, I feel compelled to do so. It think maybe the ability to make something good or improve things everyday is the best we can try for. Or maybe every hour. If you can improve by the minute or even the second, that would be seriously impressive. But don’t get vain about it. Cheers and see you after.
