Something I thought others might find valuable.

[agent1607307371]

I found this, and I thought some of the people who post here might take something from it. It's from a book about Anais Nin but the emphasis is mine.

 

 

Q: I am interested in so many things, and I have a terrible fear because my mother keeps telling me that I'm just going to be exploring the rest of my life and never get anything done. But I find it really hard to set my ways and say, "Well, do I want to do this, or should I try to exploit that, or should I escape and completely do one thing?"

 

A. Nin One word I would banish from the dictionary is "escape." Just banish that and you'll be fine. Because that word has been misused regarding anybody who wanted to move away from a certain spot and wanted to grow. He was an escapist. You know if you forget that word you will have a much easier time. Also you're in the prime, the beginning of your life; you should experiment with everything, try everything.... We are taught all these dichotomies, and I only learned later that they could work in harmony. We have created false dichotomies; we create false ambivalences, and very painful one's sometimes -the feeling that we have to choose. But I think at one point we finally realize, sometimes subconsciously, whether or not we are really fitted for what we try and if it's what we want to do.

 

You have a right to experiment with your life. You will make mistakes. And they are right too. No, I think there was too rigid a pattern. You came out of an education and are supposed to know your vocation. Your vocation is fixed, and maybe ten years later you find you are not a teacher anymore or you're not a painter anymore. It may happen. It has happened. I mean Gauguin decided at a certain point he wasn't a banker anymore; he was a painter. And so he walked away from banking. I think we have a right to change course. But society is the one that keeps demanding that we fit in and not disturb things. They would like you to fit in right away so that things work now.

 

-"A woman speaks: the lectures, seminars, and interviews of Anaïs Nin"

[Gratsy]

I love this. I'm making a big change/move myself. I won't be living in the States anymore. I've lived here all my life. I view it as a wonderful change where I am welcoming a new experience.

[Borashi]

I have to agree with you that not only do you have a right to experiment with your life but their is nothing wrong with making mistakes and learning from them.

 

I'm planning to go to college ft in the fall and it's a huge step for me. I do "fit in" at my company and my lifestyle is "comfortable" but I'm not content. I'm ready to change careers and live my life how I want rather than how others see it or want me to live it.

 

One life lesson I've learned is nothing comes easy and you have to fight hard for the lifestyle you want. It won't be given to you. Only you can make it happen.