Posted: August 30, 2010
Updates On Old Ideas
Thirteen years ago, I wrote the following in the AAEA ByLine:
"Write because you are fascinated with language. Write because it excites you. Write because it is a form of high adventure. Write because you are helping to enlighten and educate others. Write because you had rather do that than anything else."
The context in which I wrote those words was that of rising above the sea of nuts and bolts that surround you and above those who want to be the master of your creative soul.
Far too often, the endless parade of procedures, restrictions and limitations of every kind cause your creativity to sink lower into the murky waters of your daily existence. If the condition is severe enough and persists long enough, your creativity may simply disappear.
If that weren't bad enough, people will take it upon themselves to attempt to mold you into what they believe you should be and what the organization intends for you to be.
In stark contrast, positive reinforcement is what you want and need. So is facing down a new challenge. That's how you grow in both knowledge and wisdom. That's how you finally reach a point in your life that allows you to look back on a trail lined with true accomplishments and great memories.
Conditions back in the early 1990s is what caused me to urge every ag journalist to establish a defense against undue intrusion and to seek those places willing and able to nurture all of what's the very best inside you.
Those conditions have worsened. The fervent search for profitability, escalation of the idea that all people are dispensable and a loosening of quality standards are making life even more difficult for those of us gifted with the ability to create, imagine and innovate.
But that's no reason for you to be discouraged or to give up. Look far beyond the immediate and you will discover the world still needs and wants people with such gifts.
It always has. It always will.
Click here to see an archive of previous Updates on Old Ideas.