Tuesday 29 March 2011

Passion VS Reality

I was thinking the other day about how passionate I am about making videos and playing video games constructively. During this blissful moment of reflection I was immediately brought back down to earth to face the ugly truth, I had a Uni assignment to finish. Of course, delaying the inevitability of actually starting my assignment, I began to think about how not only myself, but what I can only imagine to be countless others have hobbies that they are madly passionate about to the point that it often almost distracts them from what they 'have' to do. The issue of passion v.s reality.


My dad has called me slack countless times because I have pulled an all-nighter working on a video for my Youtube channel, and then slept through my alarm and missed an early start at University the following day. My dad would say, "I know that you enjoy making these videos mate, but you need to be realistic. Going to uni and getting a job is what is going to get you the income for your life, making these videos is a hobby, and at this stage, nothing more." This is the statement of someone that is, shall I say with quotes, 'realistic.' This going trend of what is realistic today is that you go to school and ultimately get a job. Hobbies, such as making Youtube videos are a fun way to keep your mind active and entertain you. But people mustn't let them become priority to the 'realistic' approach in life.


It is a shame to see that so many people are simply giving up on their passions because they have been repeatedly told that its not a realistic career path. Hell, I'm not saying that it is, but so long as you have a back up plan, why can't you give it a shot. If it doesn't work out, so what. You took the chance, and went for it. To me, that seems much better than just sitting idly and letting would could have been a promising opportunity pass you by.


I feel it would be fair to say that everyone would love to get themselves into a line of work that they love and feel passionate about. This, believe it or not, happens rarely in society. I'm not saying to quit your job or drop out of University or College on a whim without a plan in place. But there is no reason why you can't start something on the side, and potentially build from there. The people that manage to find themselves a career in an area that they are passionate about, were the ones that said, "fuck what everyone else says, I'm going to give it a shot."


Let me leave you with that ladies and gentlemen.


-Auzzie

4 comments:

  1. HERE HERE
    I believe this should be the way everyone should look at things. If you never try to become or do something your really enjoy, then your just wasting a good chance in your life. Like as of right now im going to school again to try to get a solid job in the Video game industry. And no matter how many times I fail i will continue to get back on my horse and one day achieve my dream of being a high ranking developer. Further more, as soon as I make my first AAA title I will put the TheAuZZie as a bonus character. Your see!!!

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  2. I am very sure the likes of Hutch and SeaNanners huge gaming personalities were met with realists telling them their hobby was nothing more than that.

    They may have even questioned it themselves after a year doing it that even with 200k subscribers they weren't actually getting an income from it, but for them their persistence paid off as they both now have modest paying jobs at Machinima.

    I mean yes it is good to stay grounded and realistic as not everyone gets those big breaks into the industry, but more and more businesses are looking at YouTube and the Blogsites for their next personality/journalist. If you don't put yourself out there then you don't get picked.

    I will agree that your dad is right that Uni is important, but I also believe that intelligence is nothing if you aren't enjoying yourself.

    I would like to think most people would rather be stupid than dull and boring, would rather be in a lower paying job because they prefer fun over seriousness. We only have one life so let passion rule as money comes and goes but you only get one chance at doing something you truly love for a living and you are on a slow but steady path to maybe achieving that.

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  3. As a pommie I don't know much about the state of the economy in Australia but if it's as bad as it is here like most students you'll be paddling up shit creek with a spoon once you leave uni. In this economy the best thing to do is make up your own job and I can assure you that if you keep up your passion for creating videos you'll find yourself with a nice income sooner rather than later. Once your dad realises you're making really money from these videos he'll soon realise that what you're doing is just as good as getting a 'real job', in fact he'll probably be jealous of you for making your passion into a paying job.

    Keep it up and stay passionate you've got a long road ahead of you.

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  4. A friend of mine just discussed a very similar situation as this. As we get older, do we let go of our hobbies of our childhood and teenagehood in favor or an actual occupation? As kids we develop habits and find enjoyment in various things. Sometimes those knacks evolve into something more passionate. I absolutely loved art and music as a child, and as I got older, I started to develop my artistic side a bit more. But now that I'm halfway through college, I barely draw, write, or paint.

    Sometimes the things we do have to be parted as we get older. It's just part of aging. Things that we found fun need to be sacrificed for our future careers and families. Sometimes we can turn our hobbies into careers, but not everyone can be as fortunate. Most of us will just need to suck it up and bog down for the sake of our lives, especially in the downhill economy that we live in.

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