What if we were all taught to pursue in life what we are passionate about instead of being taught to follow the money and security.
I bought this beautiful painting from my daughters friend who upon graduation from High School went on to pursue a degree in something other than art due to parental pressure. Every time I look at this painting I feel a sense of sadness that her parents were so worried about money they weren't able to support her artistic talents.
I have always tried to support my children's natural inclinations, their expressed interests. Trying always to help them seek out a life that will make them truly happy.
I saved and bought my daughter a keyboard and then a guitar when she expressed interest in learning. Music did not end up being something she was drawn to and they went unused for quite a long time until my son expressed interest. He now plays regularly and wants to pursue a degree in Music.
My daughter who thought she might like music instead choose to pursue a degree in theater arts. However after her first year in college she felt pulled to travel. After talking with her in depth about her desires and what she wanted for her life I whole heartedly told her to travel.
Here are a couple of blogs she wrote about her experiences while traveling: Ireland and Hana Maui.
She still feels torn between the two desires she has for a life of traveling the world helping others and theater arts. My advice was you only live once you should explore both and never believe it is too late to make a change.
She leaves for Ireland again in a couple of days for an entire year and has decided to continue her degree online while Au Pairing there.
I came across an excellent Tedx Talk by Caroline McHugh recently. In it Caroline talks about finding what makes us unique and putting that to work in creating our life.
Most of us don't take up nearly the space the universe has intended for us. We feel small and when we witness someone who is in the full flow of their humanity they seem to be larger than life, remarkable.
One thing these remarkable individuals have in common is that they have nothing in common.
They are individuals who have managed to figure out the unique gifts that only they possess and then put those gifts to work towards their goals.
You can only be truly fulfilled and happy when you are singing the one true note you were destined to sing.
When asked by a journalist if he had a message for the world Gandhi replied, "My life is my message." This is truth. Our lives are our message.
Being YOU is the only area of your life where you have absolutely no competition.
Take advantage of that reality.
Bask in it.
And create a beautiful message.
Painting Source:
I own the painting in this post and it is the original. Digital copies of it may be found elsewhere on the internet.
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Thanks to my parents and their open mind I had no problem of expressing and working on my art. Unfortunately life wasn't so understanding :) Civil war and other staff region I lived was exposed to, took some years of my life. And this post of yours came at the moment of my thinking this days :) what if..? Those things didn't happen, what if I had opportunity to travel when I was younger, what if I was able to had learned arts abroad ...Great staff you writing here about..Because thinking about all ifs..One thing was most important and that is early support of my parents. So it's always makes me happy to see understanding parent.
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Thank you @jungwatercolor I really believe in helping my children as well as those around me seek out their passions and interests and following them. It is so wonderful and seems to be so rare that your parents supported you in your love of art. Your paintings truly are so beautiful and moving I am always in awe of your talent with every post. I hope that you are able to dedicate more and more time to it in the future 😊
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Amen sister. You seem like an amazing woman and parent. Oh, I pray there are more parents out there like you. We are each of us a unique Spark of the Divine, and when we shine, the whole world is lit up with our brilliance.
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Thank you @artwithheart! I absolutely agree with you and hope that Steemit more and more becomes a vehicle for facilitating and drawing attention to our collective brilliance 🌟
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:) Awesome post, re-steemed to promote quality content!
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Thank you @clayboyn I appreciate that 😊
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Hi @sarahsayjay!
This is such a wonderful message and one that I whole heartedly support. It takes a lot of courage to follow your passions and so many hopeful people leave in favor of more security. I'm going after art in my 30s and there are just as many naysayers now as there were when I was graduating highschool.
The painting you posted is beautiful and whimsical. Maybe she'll come back around later in life. Money comes and goes, it's important to go after the big dreams in your lifetime.
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Thank you @fumansiu! Your paintings are beautiful I am so glad you are following your passion regardless of approval from others. I believe she will come back to it. She is an amazing artist, digital and mixed media. She had expressed a sincere desire to go to art school so I think it will always be a part of her life, hopefully more so at some point.
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So true. That is a very moving painting. I'm glad you are letting your daughter explore all of her options. That's a wonderful thing for a parent to do.
Be prepared, though. It may not work out the way you might envision. I was given almost no direction in my life. I had music lessons and all that stuff, but none of it turned me on. I always wanted to write, but I was never encouraged in that direction. So I did a little of this and a little of that looking for that one thing that was my passion. It turns out that all that exploring was just a process of elimination. I discovered a whole bunch of things I don't want to do. I gained lots of eclectic skills that have served me well, but it wasn't until I finally gave up trying that I finally found the things I love to do. I'm an avid gardener, but it's hard to make a living doing that. I did a variety of landscaping jobs but wasn't satisfied doing what the homeowners wanted me to do. Their values were often at odds with my own. But I found that simple pruning was something I really enjoyed, and because I enjoyed it I got good at it. Now I have a small underground pruning business. I charge $40/hr to turn a rampant tree into something of beauty. It's a tree service that is in service to the tree, not the homeowner, per se, though they always love what I do. I could work a lot more, but being the slacker that I am, I prefer to only work about 4 hours, 2 to 3 hours a week. It forces me to live a simple life, which I also enjoy.
And now, I also write. So far I could never make a living on Steemit, though I do put in quite a few hours on this laptop. But this is also a labor of love, and so if you Steemians like what I write about and like my style of writing, perhaps this too will put a bit of food on the table (stuff I can't grow myself, that is). But that's just the frosting on the cake. I'm having a blast and enjoying this new-found community. Thank you Steemians. Resteeming this post.
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I agree and thank you for your support! I hope your love of writing ends up also being an aide to your financial well being! My thoughts are you should attempt what you are interested in and passionate about first and then go from there. Money alone will absolutely not make you happy and I believe starting from a solely financial stand point is a sure way to enjoy a life of misery.
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This post received a 1% vote by @minnowsupport courtesy of @sammosk from the Minnow Support Project ( @minnowsupport ). Join us in Discord.
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