ambition.

so the inimatable eli got me thinking about ambition and how we end up where we are.

before i continue go read eli's blog. CLICK THE LINK!

i'm generally neurotic when it comes to commenting on people's blogs and only do it when i feel COMPELLED to. this morning i was compelled...

so this is what i had to say:

"I think I'm just stoked on music. Can it be that easy?"

why not? we should all be so lucky to get to work surrounded in something we love.

i think it's funny that the word 'ambitious' is often seen as a prejorative. ambition keeps us moving, breathing, dreaming and working towards what we know in our hearts we NEED to live.

what would our lives be like without ambition?

August 31, 2006 10:25 AM

eli replied:

I don't think I'm denying the NEED for ambition, but rather questioning its role in my life; whether or not it really WAS ambition that drove me, or just the stoked-ness about music.

August 31, 2006 10:41 AM

here's what i think: i think that at some point ambition is what takes a hobby/stoked-ness out of the basement, out of the realm of hobby, and takes it to the point were it becomes something that you WANT to do for life. i mean, i could definately direct plays from time to time while doing whatever else...keep it as just a 'hobby' or whatever. eli, couldn't you have gone to law school straight out of your undergrad, and just been stoked on music and done shows with black dot from time to time? anything is possible and at some point ambition swings in, mixes with love and hobbies and pushes it out of the possible into the actual.

or at least that's what i think.

i was once told that my drive was intimidating. part of me laughed at this and part of me really made me wonder...can my ambition ever become a problem?

i AM ambitious when it comes to my 'career' or what i want as a career... i can't imagine myself doing anything else and directing/producing is NOT something that happens without me making it happen.

god, i've been writing this blog over so many days i have totally lost my train of thought.

i guess the point of of everything is that for me, in my mind, ambition is what turns our passions into our lives. i'm pretty sure ambition and passion/hobby can exist side-by-side and even intersect from time to time making life quite fun.

if i ever stop hating theatre i'll go to law school and my ambition will die with my passion...(or something)

xo m.