Wednesday, February 16, 2011

What Drives You?

“Expression and the right to express is vital, anyone can be artistic.”
-Kurt Cobain


It was during the application stages of grad school that I was obligated to draw up my own personal teaching philosophy to accompany my application into the hands of the admissions committee. Bear in mind that my idea of teaching requires University level classrooms-only; even still my philosophy was anything but conventional, and the quote above: my opening line.

I’m sure when the admissions committee read my ten page declaration of my teaching strategies, all streaming from the words of the Grunge Era’s casualty, they didn’t know what to make of it—or me. I can imagine they were utterly perplexed, but probably not as shocked as they were the day they called me in for an interview. They seemed to expect a “rebel without a cause” fully equipped with torn blue jeans, grungy hair, leather jacket, maybe some chains--instead that got me: one twenty something donning a pink seersucker dress accompanied with Jack Rogers and pearls; but I had a point to make. A method to my madness, so to speak, but I won’t bore you with the details.

In a nut shell, I think Cobain had it exactly right. He gave rise to the notion that art has this ability to live in a variety of forms. Every single one of us is artistic; it’s all in how you utilize it. You just gotta find your niche.

So this brings me to today, I’m sitting in Mcalister’s Deli at UNCC half-working, half-tweeting. On a side note, Twitter is such a profound concept, and I’m speaking on the “I used to be a hater” front. Turns out I was totally wrong. Twitter is fascinating, and as I sat here and received status update after status update I began thinking about my life; and more specifically, the people in it.

There is something inside me that is drawn to productive people. Call it oldest child-syndrome, call it mega-bitch, call it what you will- but I can’t fathom living life with no goal or ambition. I have absolutely no patience for people just coasting through. So naturally, I surround myself with the other type of people: the go-getters.

My friends are creative, unique, innovative--  my friends are inspired.

I get a glimpse of this every single day. Not always do I acknowledge it, but the people in my life are the push I need, and it’s ironic to me that it isn’t the words of encouragement they offer necessarily, but more their actions become motivation. Is productivity contagious?

I relished in this today while I began formulating questions to ask a co-worker of mine, Sarah, about the interior design work she does when she’s not bartending at two of Charlotte’s well-known spots. I’m testing the waters of Nightlife Profile write-ups for Creative Loafing. So naturally Sarah’s bartending will come up, but what I really want to dig into is her passion on the side. I first mentioned the idea of the profile to Sarah and she seemed pretty excited and open to talk about her fervor for design. She began describing a piece of furniture she was working on at the moment.

She elaborated on the type of fabric she had found, and how she knew right away how perfect a fit it was. Being the farthest thing from guru of interior design (my roommate can vouch), I can’t say I share Sarah’s passion for fabrics and décor. Yet, I did take mental note of the way her face lit up when illustrating her ideas. She had this very animated glow to her when recounting how she executed those ideas. It was a breath of fresh air. Look for Sarah’s profile to follow soon.

Then as I was leaving my office I got a call from my roommate, Jared. On his day off he had ventured to the NC Music Factory to look into new venues for his summer calendar. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Jared’s music- you should be. He is one of the more passionate people I’ve ever known. Eight years ago Jared taught himself how to play the guitar, and eight years later he’s added the harmonica and piano to his music. I can’t say I know of many people more dedicated and motivated than Jared. Although I currently reside in a recording studio, leaping over speakers, microphones, guitars, etc. etc. on my way out the door every morning: it’s the most worthwhile thing to come home to at the end of a long day.

Jared and I have two very different projects we want to accomplish in life, and yet, in a weird way we are one in the same. While I’m writing shorts and stories, he’s writing music; and inside all that we’re both working on bigger plans. Like most roommates at night we relay the events of the day to each other. We vent, we brag, we feed ideas off of each other. It is the perfect set-up for two people vying for our place in this great big world.

These are just two examples of what I’m talking about. When I lay out the foremost people in my life I see a variety of individuals with distinctive traits, and yet they are connected by one prevailing characteristic: drive.

Think about it- you only live once, right? Our friends are very much mirror images of ourselves, so look next to you. What do you see? My own mentor, Brittney Cason, is in the final stages of her first book. See what I’m saying? She had a goal, and she stuck to it allowing nothing to get in her way. It is unbelievably inspiring. Surround yourself with people that make you want more, with people who make you so enthusiastic you could burst.

The world is yours for the taking. Ask yourself, what pushes you?

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