The great expectations

People who are successful by the common merits - those earning a lot of money doing what they do, who are getting formal recognition for their work or some kind of promotion, who are present in the media and public life - often (condescendingly) say that there is no big secret behind their success. That everything is a simple matter of setting your goals or organizing your time. Dealing with priorities and such. That you can accomplish anything. Whatever. Although the pressure of the times we’re living in and certain expectations affect us all to some degree, not all of us can or want to live up to this task. The question is - can we learn something from those who are “successful” that can help us achieve our hopes and dreams?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been somewhat of an escapist. Not only by a determination to make music my life’s calling, but by conscious and constant running away from the usual and expected way of life. By this, above all, I mean avoiding doing some typical job or another to make a living. This may sound a bit naive and even utopian, but I firmly believe that each of us has our unique and true talent, and we simply cannot be happy if we’re forced to do something else instead. Sadly, many people tend to give up their dreams under the influence of various circumstances.

I’ve never abandoned my dreams. However, this often brings a lot of pain too. Developing my talent and knowledge, no matter what, was the thing that kept me going for many years. But as one grows older, I guess, the more one becomes pragmatic. I still hope that there is a realistic possibility of a stable marriage between dreams and reality. Is it possible to capitalize on your love and dedication toward something to satisfy your basic needs, if not the expectations of the people surrounding you? There seems to be a plethora of living examples of this, though not everyone seems to have the same fair chance of getting there.

The artists in general, even “successful” ones, tend to be rather chaotic in comparison to people from other professions. At the same time, there is always some kind of calming pattern to be found in any art. As a true Libra, I strive toward balance and neatness, but whenever I try to bring sense and order into my life and work, I never really seem to succeed in doing so. The “hateful” enemies - procrastination and escapism - always seem to get the better of me. And while this can be very frustrating when you’re trying to capitalize on your work and talent, I’m guessing this is the way it has to be, after all.

Now is the time for big decisions. Setting an itemized list of things that you will, or at least are hoping to achieve, this year. The time for recapitulation of things done in the year before. Calculating your moves and resources. While this might have a certain soothing ring to it, it can also face you with your obvious limitations and the harsh reality. After all, you can’t plan everything (or anything, for that matter). That being said, perhaps it’s best to simply sit back and just enjoy the ride. In the end, this might prove as the New Year's decision. :)