Setting the stage

In the indie hit movie 'What the bleep do we know?' there is a scene where local settlers in the New World did not see the European ships heading towards them even though they were looking right at them in the sea. 500 years later, I can empathize with the epiphany of that settler - I am beginning to see things that were right here, all along.

I can see now that I am more into imagination than into execution. I have known this all along, but have allowed foggy delusions of career and growth and local acceptance at the cost of deeper meaning to cover that up. That is one cloud that has definitely left the building. I cannot imagine anyone being into execution for the sake of execution - they may do well at it, motivated by other higher goals (money, recognition, power, fame) - but I cannot imagine someone enjoying execution for its own sake. More specifically, I cannot imagine enjoying execution without absolute reverence for the end result.

That leads to the second ship that is beginning to clear up - the end result of what I am working on has to fulfill a purpose other than just generating a lot of money. While the bottom line from a company's standpoint is completely justified in being related to the financial promise of a venture, and I would gladly invest my money in such a venture (once convinced of its financial potential), it does not by itself justify the investment of my mind and heart. Again, this seems quite obvious when I look at it. While investing my mind in return for money is a good approach, investing my mind in the hope for end to end satisfaction would require much more than financial gain. On the contrary, I believe that an end to end satisfying endeavor will automatically generate a lot of money.

I have also begun to see the outline of a third ship - not fully clear by any stretch, but I can see the masthead and the bright colors in the flag flailing in the chilly sea wind. Traditionally, corporations and venture capitalists have managed risk by diversifying between multiple investment ventures. I think it behooves me to do the same for my own investments. As an individual, I should also divide my time among the various pursuits that intrigue me and divide them sufficiently across diverse interests for two reasons: firstly, that prevents me from getting bored by the monotony of a single 'job' area. Secondly, it distributes the risk across multiple exclusive endeavors, so I can rebalance my investment of time, mind and heart across more 'profitable' avenues over time.

Towards this goal, I am embarking on a renewed model of work/life. I will work on multiple ventures - not more than 1-2 days a week each, and apply a major chunk of my time in creative pursuits. Initially, I will focus most of my time on exploring my creative talents/interests/potential and focus on one or two 1 day a week ventures. Eventually, I hope to achieve a balance between these ventures and my creative interests both in terms of creative equilibrium and financial revenue. More on this model as the fog clears further.