Skip to main content

Weekly Wednesday Wisdom

Wisdom for Miloh: Listen to Iron Maiden

Well more specifically listen Bruce Dickinson the lead singer to Iron Maiden because he's a super interesting man.

I think Maiden gets a bad rap because they're a metal band and their mascot, Eddie, is anything from a zombie to a skeleton and things in between. But they are a pretty smart group of guys.

Years ago I saw a trailer clip from their appearance on Live From Abbey Road in which Bruce talks about his career. Unfortunately when I searched for said clip I couldn't find it...I think it didn't make the cut for the show and was then pulled...but I remember the gist.

He talks about his career and says that he considers himself to be a professional pilot (he flies for a charter airline) and is once again an amateur musician...and he likes it that way. I should say that as an amateur musician he does pretty well for himself.

Bruce goes on to explain that the true meaning of amateur is someone who practices a study, sport or past time for the passion of it and the passion to learn it rather than for the money.

I guess I never thought of it that way...I always saw it simply...that a pro makes cash at something and an amateur doesn't.

But this is a good way to live your life...I love photography and was a professional photographer for 3 years...and I HATED doing that. Once I got into design I started loving photography again...I no longer had people telling me what to photograph...I could shoot what I wanted. I love being an amateur and wear that badge proudly.

If someone wants to pay me for my pics that's great...but I won't shoot the way anyone wants me to because I'm only shooting for myself.

That's not to say you can't make a living doing what you want...I made the switch from photo to art direction but I treat my career like I'm an amateur...I continue to learn...if I didn't I'd get bored.

Your mom did the same...she said goodbye to a lucrative career in wedding planning to follow her passion...teaching children...and in so many more ways it pays better than the other.

So little dude...find what your passion is and do that...if you get paid for it that's awesome...if you pick it as a career but lose that passion run away, find something else to pay the bills and find your passion again. Stay an amateur (even if you get paid) it's more fun.

And while I can't find that clip anymore here is one from the show. I love what Bruce has to say in it.



I should add that had it not been for Maiden I would have never read the epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, in 7th grade. So bugger (if I'm using UK slang correctly) to those who say metal makes kids stupid.

Comments

  1. Awesome post! So very true. I often tell my younger employees that this job doesn't have to be their passion but they should like what they do. And that finding what you are passionate about is vital to being happy. Thanks for the inspiring post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome, awesome post. I think you've just enlightened me to a new personal hero in Bruce Dickinson. If you don't mind, I may steal a couple small excerpts from your post for a project for my son at http://guywisdomformyson.com.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amiable fill someone in on and this post helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you on your information.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Giveaway: ABC's for Expectant Dads - 10 awesome copies

Winners have been picked for the giveaway. Todd was so nice as to give all who entered by the deadline a copy of his book. Thanks all who entered...I sent an email to you for your info. Please email me (info on the header) if you don't get that email. Rommel I could not find your email...please let me know your contact info. A bit ago I found Todd Lieman in Twitterland and he sent me a copy of his book ABC's for Expectant Dads: The Ultimate A- for Dads-in-Training. I'd looked at a bunch of expectant dad books and I thought most were terrible. I did pick up The Expectant Father and I liked it but I haven't looked at it in months. I think it's tough for dad's because we're just reading about what's going on with the mothers and it's easier to hear it from them. Staci is reading so much that she keeps me up to date on things I should know and I'm sure most expectant moms are the same. I'm also luckily in that doing this blog has connected

The Cat in the Hat Knows Pretty Much Nothing About That

I find myself saying it a lot but we don't let Miloh watch a lot of TV... Mostly because it goes a bit against Montessori at home (although we're pretty reform with that) and also because we, read I, watch too much and we don't want Miloh in the habit. On the list of things he does watch is The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That. Netflix is our friend in the mornings so he will get a bit of that or Sesame Street while the person who's on duty that AM tries to actually wake up. And Miloh truly loves the show. He calls it hat and pats his head. He let's us know that there's a fish on screen every time the fish comes on screen, he dances and says "Go, go, go" when they sing that song. Unfortunately since we really only watch on Netflix we've only seen eight episodes... But this gives me time to really think about the show. Here are some problems with it: The Cat in the Hat actually really knows almost nothing about everything. He does

Dear Scott the Paleontologist – the response... Wait sorry... the awesome response

In my last post I asked some incredibly pressing questions to Dr. Scott Sampson aka Scott the Paleontologist. Questions that any parent of a Dinosaur Train fan wants to know... I got a reply and I have to say Dr. Scott is hilarious and pretty awesome... But I'm a fan of science humor... So here are his responses in line with mine. They're in blue because that's the color of most of  Shiny Pteranodon. Dear Scott the Paleontologist, My son Miloh and I are fans of Dinosaur Train and as an avid fan I have some questions regarding it that I hope you can answer: The train is a steam engine. Does it run off coal? If it does use coal is there a possibility that greenhouse gases from that could have lead to the extinction of dinosaurs? How come this isn't a theory? Very interesting question. Yes, to the best of my knowledge, the Dinosaur Train runs on fossil fuels, but we actually do have an episode upcoming where we investigate alternative fuel trains. Given that