Thursday, May 12, 2011

So what do you want?

Q) So what do you want from life?
A) I want to be successful. I want to write many books, make lots of money, earn fame and respect.

Q) Great! How many books would you write, how much money would you make, how much fame would you earn?
A) I would write as many books as it takes to earn much money, earn fame. Say 10 million dollars and lots of awards as the best writer.

Q) Good. And after that, after you have achieved all that, what would you do?
A) I'll chill out a bit. I'll buy myself a farmhouse and spend half my time there. I'll have a holiday. I'll go to the beach side and buy a house there. I'd do things more leisurely, meet people, watch movies, read books, garden, set up a school and teach children.

Q) Will you stop writing books?
A) I will write of course, but more leisurely. Differently. I will write what I want to write.

Q) So what you really want is a farmhouse, a holiday and a life of leisure. Writing is just a way to get the money is it?
A) Not really. But yes, I'd write lesser then. Do other things more.

Q) Then is it that you really desire a farmhouse and not this life of writing? Maybe you should just start working on that farmhouse idea and on writing the book that you will write when you get there - don't you think? Could you write that book now? Could you start planning for that farmhouse now?
A) Yes. I could write it now. I could plan the farmhouse too.

I was wondering what it means to ask someone what they want in life. Not many seem to know. It is amazing that even if we were to say, man, I am Alladin's djinn and I can give you anything, most of us have nothing to ask for ourselves. What we really want. Because we never thought of it. Twice in my life I was faced with this question and twice I blanked out. I could not think of a single thing I wanted.

Sometimes we do come up with some logic like the above. Some romantic notions of life bought from someone else. Maybe it is better we quickly go to what we really want to do (the farmhouse and the big book), find out if it is what we want to do, and then go towards it instead of saying I would like to do this so I get that and then I can do that. That last one in the loop is apparently what you seem to want to do so head in that direction. And if you don't want to head in that direction, maybe you don't want that either. Maybe, you just want to do what you originally chose to get there.

Maybe while doing this well (writing), you will get that (farmhouse)! But I suspect the catch is that it would require you to write like you would after you plan to go to that farmhouse - the real writing you are capable of!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hari
If you could not think of a single think you want, that means you have everything you want already.

Hey, thats good....right?

Madhav

Harimohan said...

Madhav,
I'd thought as much until I realised that maybe I did not have everything I need and worse, did not know what I needed! Clarity is usually the first casualty of romanticism...right?