There comes a time in our life when our perspective changes drastically and the things we once held as goals of our life, no longer hold true or rather no longer seem to matter.
For far too long I had thought about leaving a legacy, I even worked towards it so that people will remember me once I am long gone. For it seemed like a noble cause, far nobler than settling down like my peers and working towards building a family life. After all as someone who is about to turn 33 in a few months, I have already in some ways missed the boat to normal family life.
I have tried in ways to model my writing accordingly and in some aspect I have driven my photography style towards populism as well, counting likes and views in some ways as a measure of my success and improvement. Funnily enough, those likes never came for the images I felt most satisfied with and usually came for images I just wanted to go ahead and trash in the first instance.
Then there are more materialist goals I have yearned for and while I still wish to have most of those (I am no sanyasi after all), for they will be needed to support my passion and work, they aren’t as necessary as my primary goal of life. I no longer feel the need for creating my own empire or leaving a legacy that will be remembered long after my ashes turn to dust.
For life is a fickle thing and too precious to be wasted towards pursuing a dream that is entirely dependent on other’s acceptance of your work and as a guy who has never given two hoots about what the world thinks of him, this about the most ridiculous path I can walk upon.
With that I withdraw myself from the race that countless talented individuals must be running around the globe, in hopes of becoming the next William Shakespeare, Leonardo DE Vinci or Ansel Adams.
I am no longer in competition with anyone nor do I wish to please anyone with my writing and art, for these are wholly devoted to the satisfaction of only one individual on this earth, me. If others like and appreciate what I do for my own satisfaction, then it would be a wonderful thing, since writing and art should be out there for all to enjoy. However I am not going to write certain way or about certain things or produce images with a certain style, in hope of attracting views or monetary gain. For they are far trivial than the satisfaction which comes from within by producing something that can truly be called you own. And that is what matters the most to me now.
I end this blogpost with a quote that I came up with few hours ago, “I seek no greatness and I seek no win, all I seek is what comes from within.”
10 Comments
🙂 lovely
Thank you Harvinder 🙂
Yogesh, very nicely written!!!
Thank you Dhillon ji
Very well written
Thank you Swati
YS… I don’t know what to say… But it touched my heart…
Thank you Rahi
YS nicely written. All the best for your new beginning. Life is too short to spend time pleasing others.
Thanks Ankur