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Thursday, December 06, 2012

Red Mage

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
- Robert A. Heinlein

Sometimes, I wonder what would have happened if I took the humanities (or arts) route in college. I often see such people through rose-colored glasses (which shows how little I know about the world) but still, I've always felt like it would be fun to harness creativity for a living. I imagine that it must be deeply gratifying on a personal level for someone to complete something they've put their soul into and show it to the world (or to the bosses - again, I know little of these things).

I wonder how it feels like to be able to spew art on a whim. I'd bet that's a fun thing. In retrospect, I guess taking something that was boring, but practical has been better for me in the long run. That's the saddest thing about not being perpetually inspired by a Muse - whatever artistic impulse that one can muster heavily depends on mood, which doesn't amount to much in my case.

After all, isn't that what being a jack-of-all-trades is about? One can do a lot - and in some cases can do it well - but the suckiest part is that there's often a ceiling to the level of skill that can be attained.

I'm never sure if that's the reason why I try to learn or do as many things as I can, to the point that sometimes I bite much more than I can chew. Maybe that's why I often rationalize ridiculously tall odds into something that can be done. I reckon it's either one of two things that provides a drive - hunger for knowledge or the fact that I'm still trying to look for the one thing I'm really good at.

Whatever, we'll see.

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