Lately I've been really captured, as I am every so often, by the idea and the drive to live a passionate, beautiful, successful life. This has been a recurring thing for me throughout my teen years, and now, into my early 20's. I'm struck by this urge usually once every few months, and it causes me to think on a different level about the way I treat people, the way I view God, what I want out of life, and the attitude with which I approach all things, even the most mundane tasks.
There are different things that spark these brainstorms. This time it was running across the blog of an old acquaintance that I met through the homeschool circuit when I was about 14 years old. Eric Farewell was born into a very unique situation, and has leveraged this situation very much to his advantage, turning himself into someone who started out with a fascination for flight into a highly prestigious marketing guru, who has essentially retired at age 22. He now travels the world taking beautiful, beautiful photographs for a company he started, Blue Shoe Photography. While its true that airplanes, marketing, and photography don't have a whole lot in common, the true thread running through his story is his creative thinking and entrepreneurship.
It definitely could be argued that Eric is the type of person that Malcom Gladwell writes about in his most recent book. He is an outlief. Someone who was born into a very unique situation with a lot of things out of the normal that most people do not have, and those things have helped launch his career to where he is now.
I'm no Eric Farewell. He's 22, (probably) a multi-millionaire, and travels the world visiting his friends and taking pictures. I'm 20 years old, and a college student who works just enough to pay his rent every month, eat, drive a car, and have a little extra cash on the side. But I believe I can live a life every bit as full and passionate as him. Don't get me wrong, I would be utterly thrilled if, at some point in my life, I can live even a remotely similar lifestyle. But I don't believe lifestyles are intrinsically indicators for one's passion for life. I believe beauty can be found in the smallest acts of kindness, and can be perceived in every bit of creation. Maybe its letting the guy merging onto the highway have a few extra feet. Maybe its greeting the folks at the office with a cheery "Good morning!" Maybe its taking a second look at the snow on the trees as I look out my bedroom window and recognizing God's handiwork.
Maybe its recognizing that I'm where I am is where I'm designed to be, and making the most of every conversation, every course, every class, every hour at work, every friendship, giving as much encouragement to as many people as I can, and thanking God for the ability to do all of it and live in His world as His son.
"I want to add to the beauty, to tell a better story, to shine with the Light that's burning up inside."
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