The idea of 'following your bliss' is stupid. Work isn't always fun, and there are a lot of people who need to learn that lesson.
I totally get this guy's point, but this statement is a wee bit extreme for me. I think the whole idea behind following your bliss isn't that you shouldn't have to work hard, or choose lower-paying careers, or not be willing to work at McDonalds as a teen or whatever. It just means that one should be sure that they're doing SOMETHING in their life that makes them happy—be it an ideally-matched career, a creative outlet, or a way of living that previously was inhibited or undiscovered.
Switching to a career or job that one likes more than the one he or she had to leave (because it was sucking the life out of them, making them ill, and ruining their family life) doesn't necessarily mean going to something where they won't be earning good money or carrying their weight in society.
I've changed careers three times in my life, fine-tuning just what it was that I wanted to spend most of my day doing, and was always able to pay my own bills and support myself. Hard work can even be fun and gratifying.
Anyway....my two cents.
I think what he meant (or what I got from it, anyway) was that following your bliss to the point of destruction is stupid. If your bliss doesn't provide you with a living, it's gotta be a hobby. My experience is that very few among us get to do what we love for a living.
The idea of 'following your bliss' is stupid. Work isn't always fun, and there are a lot of people who need to learn that lesson.
I totally get this guy's point, but this statement is a wee bit extreme for me. I think the whole idea behind following your bliss isn't that you shouldn't have to work hard, or choose lower-paying careers, or not be willing to work at McDonalds as a teen or whatever. It just means that one should be sure that they're doing SOMETHING in their life that makes them happy—be it an ideally-matched career, a creative outlet, or a way of living that previously was inhibited or undiscovered.
Switching to a career or job that one likes more than the one he or she had to leave (because it was sucking the life out of them, making them ill, and ruining their family life) doesn't necessarily mean going to something where they won't be earning good money or carrying their weight in society.
I've changed careers three times in my life, fine-tuning just what it was that I wanted to spend most of my day doing, and was always able to pay my own bills and support myself. Hard work can even be fun and gratifying.
So you were able to avoid the true testicle owner- the student loan? Greatest tool for keeping the masses under control ever made. Put people in debt for life for an education that would be worthless if the power goes out and "society" breaks down. Most college educations only provide skills that are of any value in the very system that enslaves one. (Obviously medicine, engineering and a few others are legit) Isn't government the largest employer? It has to be, if the student loans( for worthless, non real life skills)were to default, the government would collapse. As I recall saying off the cuff in one of these forums( and I least thought it was on the mark enough to remember)- The guy who fixes your leaky faucet pays for it all.
A-freakin'-men. They're called Elasticators, and that's how we do it. It's not as bad as it sounds—recovery doesn't take all day—but it doesn't go as quick as the old fashioned way. If we had hundreds to do I'd have to reconsider.
The man is dead on. Our society has made anything resembling manual labor out to be something even kids right out of high school are above. This is exactly why Mexicans do most of it these days. Everybody born here wants to start at the top.
Thanks, Islander. That was a fascinating lecture. The points he makes toward the end are chilling, to me.
There is a lot of personal responsibility that we all have abdicated over the last few decades.Not that all of our advances are bad, but we could use a big dose of reality and the occasional dope slap. The sheep are a good lesson - just because the government says that's the way it should be doesn't mean that's really the best option.
Some one sent me this, and I really liked it on several fronts. 1. Mike Rowe is just cool, and 'Dirty Jobs' never ceases to entertain and educate. 2. He brings up some really good points here.
The idea of 'following your bliss' is stupid. Work isn't always fun, and there are a lot of people who need to learn that lesson.You can enjoy it, but just because it's something you like doesn't mean you automatically get a living wage from it (and living wage doesn't cover a car).
The other thing that he brings up is that we have belittled labor (you have to watch all the way through the sheep story), and made it really hard to get things done. I work in a white collar job, but I manage both blue and white collar people. They are definitely different, but both valuable. I am amazed at how much derision each camp has for each other, and how little respect there is for each other's work.
Then there is the government interference. We grouse about how the rest of the world has taken over our manufacturing, but it really is a pain to get things done in this country. I'm not saying that we should be like China and live w/ toxic air so that we can produce toxic goods, but I should be able to pour concrete w/o hiring a mitigation team, and My electrical guys should be able to make determinations about what is safe and not safe based on their knowledge and experience. I used to work as a machinist, and you could tell when the OSHA inspectors were around, because the air pressure in our tool hoses would drop 50%. We've gone so far in making things 'safe', that we have impacted productivity and reduced the role of common sense.
Thanks, Islander. That was a fascinating lecture. The points he makes toward the end are chilling, to me.
Some one sent me this, and I really liked it on several fronts. 1. Mike Rowe is just cool, and 'Dirty Jobs' never ceases to entertain and educate. 2. He brings up some really good points here.
The idea of 'following your bliss' is stupid. Work isn't always fun, and there are a lot of people who need to learn that lesson.You can enjoy it, but just because it's something you like doesn't mean you automatically get a living wage from it (and living wage doesn't cover a car).
The other thing that he brings up is that we have belittled labor (you have to watch all the way through the sheep story), and made it really hard to get things done. I work in a white collar job, but I manage both blue and white collar people. They are definitely different, but both valuable. I am amazed at how much derision each camp has for each other, and how little respect there is for each other's work.
Then there is the government interference. We grouse about how the rest of the world has taken over our manufacturing, but it really is a pain to get things done in this country. I'm not saying that we should be like China and live w/ toxic air so that we can produce toxic goods, but I should be able to pour concrete w/o hiring a mitigation team, and My electrical guys should be able to make determinations about what is safe and not safe based on their knowledge and experience. I used to work as a machinist, and you could tell when the OSHA inspectors were around, because the air pressure in our tool hoses would drop 50%. We've gone so far in making things 'safe', that we have impacted productivity and reduced the role of common sense.