Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion
G. W. F. Hegel
When someone asks me what my major is, I am always a little proud to tell them "I am an English major." I am sure there are other people with different majors that feel the same way I do. They ask, "Why would anyone want to be an English major?" while I wonder why anyone would be a business major. Having a degree in English is not especially prestigious, and will probably not bring me great wealth, but I am pursuing my passion. I love that I walk around work all day and talk to people who love, not only to read, but to think. I am convinced we look at the world differently.
When I was younger, I was different from my friends. I was reminded of this last night when I went to dinner with four girls I've known since elementary school. Four times a year, for each others birthday, we go out to dinner. I always think about how we were when we were growing up for several days before we meet. I am convinced that we are who we are and there is not much we can do to change it. Our school did not encourage reading, but I read. I read Austen, Bronte, Shakespeare, Sewell, Alcott and even Margaret Mitchell. I listened to Opera music on large records. or Frank Sinatra as he crooned about love. I was just different. One of my favorite people in the world confirmed this difference for me today. When she was in the sixth grade, her idea of a great Halloween costume was to dress up like a Picasso painting. No one else recognized what she was, they had the nerve to ask if she were "trash," but even then, she knew what she liked and did not care that no one else shared her view of the world. She was different then and she still is, but I hope now she values that difference. One day, I am convinced, she will be famous because of her unique vision.
I was reminded of that difference last night as my friends pulled up in their large SUV's with their American flag magnetic stickers on the back window. They stepped from their cars perfectly pressed, grabbed their Vera Bradley bags and walked to the restaurant confident in their good looks. I picked up my bag from the Junkman's Daughter, smiled and followed them in, confident in the fact that I am where I want to be and, tomorrow, I will walk into a building to a group of people from whom I am not so different.
3 comments:
I'm envious of your security in who you are. I desperately want that. I don't think it's something you can force on yourself though. It's not something you can say "I want to be this way" and magically change who you are. Perhaps I"m destined to be constantly searching for who I am or striving to be who I think I should be. I hope as I grow older and mature that I will have the courage to just be me and to be happy and confident in doing so.
Kirsten, you are wonderful, but you have to remember that I am 5-12 years older than you. When I was your age, I felt the same way you do now. When you are my age, you are going to have confidence oozing out of your cute little ears.
I feel proud to be doing what I love too. It kind of hurts my feelings when some of my loved ones do not get excited when I tell them something that I did in school or a moment of enlightenment that I had in a class. However, I pity those people because they will never be as satisfied in their jobs because they were taught to make money, not fulfill their passions.
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