Don't Trade Your Passion for Glory

There's a line in the song "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor where it says:

You trade your passion for glory

This song speaks volumes of truth about perseverance, which is the only way to get better. But for this post, I'm going to focus on this line. We must be careful not to trade our passion for glory. If you seek to glorify yourself, you will lose the reason why you got there in the first place. It's far better to keep your passion alive and labor away in "obscurity" than to get accolades from others and in the process your passion dies. And when passion dies, you lose the core of your craft.

Glory is a Siren. Though she calls in a seductive voice and she is beautiful, don't go and embrace her or you will "die." It's too easy for us technical writers or writers of all stripes or anyone else for that matter to get drawn in by her songs. Resist her! She is fleeting. People are fickle. One moment, people love you. The next, they revile you.

There's nothing wrong with success. If you worked hard and got there honestly, then God bless you for it! Don't beat yourself when you're successful. But be on guard! Make sure you don't let the glory get to your head, you become arrogant and dismiss those who helped you along the way.

Passion may not at first look as beautiful as Glory. But if we look again, Passion's beauty is deep within and shines through. 

Glory only has the surface beauty but her heart is hollow. Passion is full of simple and pure innocence. Passion will be there and she inspires you to persevere and to be creative. Glory will fade away and move to another when the winds of trends blow her toward another direction. So hold onto Passion. Let Glory go!

For Passion is a faithful soulmate. Glory is a perpetual adulteress.

Passion survives. Glory dies.

Being the Best, No Thanks

I'm not interested in being the best writer there is. I'm okay with others with being far better than me. It's a pipe dream to try to be the best there is. 

Why do I say this? Before I became a technical writer, I remember an acquaintance, he was an old cat who happened to be a jazz bassist, once told me something insightful. He said "no matter what you do, there will be always be someone better than you."

Constant one-upmanship is futile. Supposed you get to the top, it's only matter of time before you get knock out of there. What's the point? Life is too short to pursue this vapid phantom. How much damage can you do to yourself and others when you focus on being the number 1 writer? There's so much more peace when you let this go and just focus on writing.

I'm just interested in doing the best I can as a writer. My focus is on the craft and to continue to grow as a technical writer. I'm not interested in competition. I'm not interested comparing myself to others. Those writers, especially well-known ones, are who they are. I'm just me. God has blessed me with a technical writing career. He has given me a freedom in obscurity, yet given me and my family a well-compensated space to do what I love. I'm just interested in doing the best I can and let the rest follow.

Writing should be about quality, not quantity or prestige. It should be about the craft and creative process that goes with it. I still get a joy in designing documentation, even if it's not "the best".

For however long I can keep writing professionally, I resolved to do this:

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; -- Colossians 3:23 KJV