Coming to this conversation late, but this matches exactly my own experiences treading a unique path. People often think of me as “crazy” or naive or are sometimes even offended that I’ve chosen to pursue writing as a career goal when I could have been (and once considered becoming) a doctor.

It seems money is either the most easily changeable factor for people seeking happiness (go to school, work hard, start your own business, etc. and you can move up the economic ladder) or the most important for society to encourage, and it’s to such a degree that people have forgotten its a tool to reach happiness, not a goal in and of itself.

Thank you for pointing this out so well in your post.

David Dittells last blog post..Writing Links of the Day 02/20/2009

On the other hand, I’ve embraced my choice to follow my creative pursuits and make things happen for myself. Silly as it may sound, a fortune teller told me that I would be doing things that made people ask themselves “what’s wrong with Nathalie?”, and threaten their own perceptions of success. He also said that this phase of “challenge” would last for 30 years, until I’m 53. I’m kinda looking forward to this whole challenging phase, to tell the truth.

This was such an awesome post, and it really spoke to me.

I’ve found it to definitely be the case that the more I find my own path, the more everyone thinks I’m totally nutso! Recently, I’ve found the importance of tact when speaking one’s true opinions, unless you want to create chaos and conflict with others…

Keep on rockin’ the blogosphere,
~Duff

Duffs last blog post..Deconstructing Personal Development, Part 3: State Management, Positive Thinking, and the Cultivation of Mania

You have to be sincere with the answer to this question: Would you rather make yourself happy or make your family happy, if you couldn’t do both? You’re struggle will be hard, as filial pressures are of the worst kind, but it’ll be harder if you’re wishy-washy about the answer to that question.

@Kelly: “I wish I were more like you — easily amused…” – Nirvana

What’s really strange is when you live an otherwise good life that you don’t like. People are all like, why are you complaining? What’s your problem?

And then you wonder why you’re not like them, and then you wonder who’s right, and you’re no further along.

You’re not like them – their shoes don’t fit no matter how many times you put them on.

Yet we still try.

It’s the absurdity, I tell you – and it’s really hard to fight.

I appreciate you helping me tell this story.

Sometimes I look at my son and I hope my husband and I can continue to foster his individuality and natural creativity without ever getting so scared for his future that we break his spirit and try to get him to conform.

My own parents started off with the right ideals, but were downtrodden by life as the years passed. My dad especially, lost much of his optimism and creative spirit in my teenage years after my parents divorced and we were broke and struggling. There was a lot of fear in my house and at some point the message that I could do anything warped to “You gotta do something that pays and creativity never pays”.

I’ve had a bugger of a time kicking that voice and today I still find myself evaluating my creative and story ideas on the basis of whether they’re “marketable”, rather than whether they get me excited.

I try very hard to live from the inside-out, but when your choices constantly lead to the disapproval of loved ones, it can be hard to stick to your guns and stay true to your own path. Sometimes I really wish I was more ‘normal’, that I saw money as some sort of fix-it for everything the way other people do. But you can’t change what you are and I’ve always been an individual who likes to walk the road less traveled.

Kelly

Kelly@SHE-POWERs last blog post..A Weekend Funny: My Living Will