whoa.

Why do we work so hard for “success”?  Only to realize the success we achieve has nothing to do with what we love to do, value, or understand?  I find it so easy to work and work, but then feel deflated and confused, even when things seem to finally “work out” for me.  On paper, the achievements are something to be proud of, feel good about.  Yet, it never made sense… the feeling of disinterest and frustration.

This quote gave me some perspective:

“Prestige is especially dangerous to the ambitious. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, the way to do it is to bait the hook with prestige. That’s the recipe for getting people to give talks, write forewords, serve on committees, be department heads, and so on. It might be a good rule simply to avoid any prestigious task. If it didn’t suck, they wouldn’t have had to make it prestigious.” –PAUL GRAHAM

That last line is pretty interesting, don’t you think?  I want to be ambitious, but I need to stay away from prestige.  It is tempting.  Everyday, you are tempted.  As I slowly step away from the yearning of prestige and spend more time doing things that inspire me, I might find my way.

So here is a small sample of what makes me happy… no prestige attached.

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