© 2013 – J C, An Anonymous CFO. All rights reserved*
Inquisitor:
If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich? More important, why are you doing work that gives you little or no satisfaction at the expense of passion-quenching creative pursuit? Why haven't you used your intelligence to make a fortune, to free yourself to live out the rest of your life in a state of unbridled discovery and creativity?
Genius:
I am inclined to answer “Contempt!”–contempt for a system that requires me to be both creator and entrepreneur that I may earn the wherewithal, and hence, the “privilege”, to create without constraint; but I know that my reasons run deeper. It isn’t a matter of principle–or obstinacy (though I am not necessarily a rational being in every circumstance)–that drives me to buck the system and settle for a life of “breadwinning”, half-hearted, half-baked wealth-generating schemes, and part-time creation. I do so because I dare not suspend my creative work, but more on this in a bit. Now one might argue that there are breadwinner/creator success stories. With this I would have no disagreement–it is this very notion, together with the creative work itself, that sustains me. I would posit, however, that not all luminous part-time creators are successful; that those successes would be considerably more prevalent were it not for the albatross that is the green-paper chase. Of course, I could reject the path of the part-time creator as well: refuse or quit the job, draw a monthly welfare check, forsake all of the trappings of the 40-60 hours-a-work-week trudge, and spend all of my time doing what I love. But I am not without ethical sense, and the fact is, some of those trappings may be conducive, if not essential, to my creating. Moreover, there is the oft-considered matter of the ruinous effect such rebellion might have on familial relationships, the heart-rending sorrow. Not all geniuses are ruthless, devoid of empathic sense. Returning to the matter of the entrepreneur, you might reasonably ask: Couldn’t you mount a one-man entrepreneurial “blitzkrieg” to quickly get over what, for you, would surely be a mere bump in the road? Even for the genius–particularly one who finds business mind-numbingly dull and distasteful–consummation of a wealth-generating endeavor rarely occurs quickly, certainly not quickly enough for one whose only interest is to meaningfully create. Putting one’s passion “on hold” is torturous, and it can be destructive. Consider the danger of losing that narrow “window of opportunity”, the period in one’s life where his or her peculiar form of creativity is most efficacious; or creative atrophy: the deterioration and seizing of the workings of the too-long-dormant “machine”. Then there is the hazard of focal shift: the losing of oneself to the rush of amassing ever greater wealth. To squander one’s creative gift in pursuit of monetary gain is, to the mind of the genius, self-anathematization.
The wisdom-in-a capsule adage “Do what you love and the money will follow” is simplistic hearsay; moreover, contrary to the aphoristically expressed convictions of Francis Galton concerning the indomitable spirit and unstoppable ascent of great intellect– untimely death aside–genius does not always “out”.
If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich? More important, why are you doing work that gives you little or no satisfaction at the expense of passion-quenching creative pursuit? Why haven't you used your intelligence to make a fortune, to free yourself to live out the rest of your life in a state of unbridled discovery and creativity?
Genius:
I am inclined to answer “Contempt!”–contempt for a system that requires me to be both creator and entrepreneur that I may earn the wherewithal, and hence, the “privilege”, to create without constraint; but I know that my reasons run deeper. It isn’t a matter of principle–or obstinacy (though I am not necessarily a rational being in every circumstance)–that drives me to buck the system and settle for a life of “breadwinning”, half-hearted, half-baked wealth-generating schemes, and part-time creation. I do so because I dare not suspend my creative work, but more on this in a bit. Now one might argue that there are breadwinner/creator success stories. With this I would have no disagreement–it is this very notion, together with the creative work itself, that sustains me. I would posit, however, that not all luminous part-time creators are successful; that those successes would be considerably more prevalent were it not for the albatross that is the green-paper chase. Of course, I could reject the path of the part-time creator as well: refuse or quit the job, draw a monthly welfare check, forsake all of the trappings of the 40-60 hours-a-work-week trudge, and spend all of my time doing what I love. But I am not without ethical sense, and the fact is, some of those trappings may be conducive, if not essential, to my creating. Moreover, there is the oft-considered matter of the ruinous effect such rebellion might have on familial relationships, the heart-rending sorrow. Not all geniuses are ruthless, devoid of empathic sense. Returning to the matter of the entrepreneur, you might reasonably ask: Couldn’t you mount a one-man entrepreneurial “blitzkrieg” to quickly get over what, for you, would surely be a mere bump in the road? Even for the genius–particularly one who finds business mind-numbingly dull and distasteful–consummation of a wealth-generating endeavor rarely occurs quickly, certainly not quickly enough for one whose only interest is to meaningfully create. Putting one’s passion “on hold” is torturous, and it can be destructive. Consider the danger of losing that narrow “window of opportunity”, the period in one’s life where his or her peculiar form of creativity is most efficacious; or creative atrophy: the deterioration and seizing of the workings of the too-long-dormant “machine”. Then there is the hazard of focal shift: the losing of oneself to the rush of amassing ever greater wealth. To squander one’s creative gift in pursuit of monetary gain is, to the mind of the genius, self-anathematization.
The wisdom-in-a capsule adage “Do what you love and the money will follow” is simplistic hearsay; moreover, contrary to the aphoristically expressed convictions of Francis Galton concerning the indomitable spirit and unstoppable ascent of great intellect– untimely death aside–genius does not always “out”.
"Punch Clock" - Courtesy of Secret5468
