9 Comments

This post reminds me of an old success quote I always ask myself. "What are you going to give up? In order to move up?"

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Indeed. You have to get rid of who you are today in order to become what you can be tomorrow.

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Extreme outcomes pour from extreme experiences. Set yourself on fire!

https://youtu.be/pNSWTwB-_bk

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I feel you on the sense of isolation! But maybe Bukowski took it just a hair too far.

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I disagree. Isolation is solitude and solitude is the breeding ground for success and creativity. And don't forget the words of Paul Tillich...

“Our language has wisely sensed these two sides of man’s being alone. It has created the word “loneliness” to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word “solitude” to express the glory of being alone.”

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Fair enough. I'm not sure that I'd consider Bukowski successful, or maybe a better way to say it is: that's not the kind of success I'd like to have. I'd also like to avoid Van-Gogh level success if possible! But maybe that's because I've come to appreciate my ears.

Solitude itself is glorious, though. "Isolation" has a dirty connotation to it, but it's not necessarily bad either, especially if it's a mutual feeling!

But Bukowski was a punk, through and through. I love his work so much. Just don't want to suffer so much with my own work, you know?

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Bukowski had possibly the greatest output of poetry in the 20th century all while working menial jobs and being a drunk before finding success in the mainstream. It also depends on your definition of success. And nobody wants to suffer but you either suffer for YOUR work or suffer at work for someone else. It is up to you to choose.

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Good point. I guess I've suffered at the hands of employers, and I've suffered at my own hands. The grass is always greener and all, but I'm never, ever going back. I broke free from the bonds of employment about 20 years ago, and into the fantastic realm of entrepreneurial suffering. The rest is history!

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Awesome. Well done.

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