About The Importance Of Being An Earner
Post 1381:
Today is going to be fantastic. I’m going to eat everything. When I want and however much I want. I’m going to do a lot of sitting. Some laying down. My recumbence will culminate in several naps, duration unknown. I may get up to look at my phone for a few seconds. I may read a little, until the need for another nap comes over me. Maybe an episode of TV, nothing too heavy. I don’t want to be thinking. Don’t want to be weighed down by any emotional burdens. Challenges are not my deal. Not today.
Also, I’m going to get a lot done. Accomplishments galore. Productivity through the freaking roof.
Does this seem a likely scenario? Of course not. If I do what I want, you’re going to be looking at a fatter, lazier, less disciplined sack of nuts.
This isn’t an anti-fun campaign. Rest and relaxation are some of the greatest things in life. But they’ve got to be earned, otherwise they’re not all that sweet.
Earning something is better than winning it. Better than chancing upon something or stumbling into good fortune. The greater the struggle, the greater the victory. There’s a hundred ways of saying it.
I was reminded of the importance of earning as I finished a novel the other day. The name and author aren’t important. What is of note was the way the book ended. It made no attempt at explaining its own plot mechanics. No reasonable explanation. It just ended. With a middle finger.
Some avant-garde stories simply end. We’re talking artistic stuff, though, stories that rely on symbols and lofty language. The novel I refer to was plot-heavy and therefore needed to make sense. The entire scaffolding for the story was never fully explained. If there was a structure, it was made out of literary balsa wood.
What happened? Well, an author got an idea. Then she took a nap when she should’ve been crossing the T’s. Not cool. Not earned. Then an editor didn’t earn their money. And so on. Until one day I’m reading it, waiting for the payoff.
Still waiting.
Now, I’ve got no real beef with bad books or movies. Just show me some effort. Earn that bad review. I’m sure I have or will have some black marks on my artistic name. But I need to know I did everything I could, whatever the outcome.
A little too intense? Yeah, probably. People say that about me. It’s not the greatest feeling. But it’s a reputation I’ve probably earned. Cheers and see you after.
