Ass Per Asian Eel – Definitely a Monkey

My mind is flighty this evening. Running too fast and too tired. All in the mind.

But I’ve been thinking, and  an article about people following dreams and potentially changing the way creativity is composted, coupled with a meeting at work about my ‘personal development’, is leading me to thoughts about where I’m going in life.

And I’m not sure my childhood dream of being a monkey (actually, I used to veer between Kiwi, Monkey and Orang Utan) is going to pan out.

Which leaves me going approximately nowhere.

Not neccesarily in a bad way. I don’t want to rush after something that isn’t right. And I’m trying to find ways to test the water in various directions

Put fingers in pies. Or something.

I mean, I’ve already surprised myself in one direction, which is the realisation that I kinda like customer service, but only in a public service environment. Helping people learn really gets me going, and I count entertainment and the like as learning (hell, I count everything as learning….if you do it right).

So ‘eductation’ and ‘people’ are a priority. Helping them, and not for selfish gain (though I need to earn a living, or I won’t be living too long).

‘Creativity’ and possibly ‘writing’ are the other two big words. I mean, I’m going to write whatever I do. It’s a pleasure thing, and it’s a huge part of me. So it’s not an essential part of my career path.

At the same time though. I consider, writing, language, and communication in general a strong point of mine. It makes sense to try and do something that plays to that strength, especially as it’s a strength I enjoy using.

Then the creativity unfurls, and I read articles like the one above, all about people at the cutting edge of the creative industries, blending so many of my loves together (gaming, fantasy, art, creativity, film, and all manner of shenanigans) to try and create new things in a new way.

That also gets me going.

So I don’t know. I could write for computer games, I could be creating cutting edge story delivery methods. I could teach people how to write, or at least how to express themselves creatively (I’m doing a course to this aim that I’m getting work to pay for…’consulting young people using the arts’ or something. So basically stuff about running workshops with kids…which is another thing I could do).  Or I could just sit and write until something great comes out of it.

And then the other parts come in. The fact that I want to be part of the inevitable and vital shift taking place in our creative industries. I don’t want to be just a blogger, I want to be someone finding creative ways to screw over the old bloated institutions. It’s not just the record industry that stifles creativity within its own community, it’s most of the old ‘creative industries’. Bloated corpses animated only by the necromantic powers of greed, selfishness and feeding on fear of change and longing for an imaginary tradition. Exploitation of the creative. Mining and extorting rather than cultivating.

I smell change in the air all the time, and I feel like I should be part of it. Not just sitting at the edge of meaningful work, enjoying myself, but effectively in a dead end.

I’m not going nowhere, I’m just not really moving.

I hope I’m waiting to pounce, but I’m not sure. Right now I’m dipping toes, but I’m worried that opportunities are missing me all the time.

There’s plenty of time. I don’t have to rush into anything.

But I do need to wee.

I may have to continue these thoughts some other time.

Any ideas to add to the mulch?

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Now playing: Fats Waller – [A Portrait of Fats Waller (2 of 2) #09] I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter [foobar2000 v0.9.4.3]
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