invent yourself and then reinvent yourself,
don’t swim in the same slough.
invent yourself and then reinvent yourself
and
stay out of the clutches of mediocrity.
invent yourself and then reinvent yourself,
change your tone and shape so often that they can
never
categorize you.
reinvigorate yourself and
accept what is
but only on the terms that you have invented
and reinvented.
be self-taught.
and reinvent your life because you must;
it is your life and
its history
and the present
belong only to
you.
~Charles Bukowski, from The Pleasures of the Damned
this poem from Charles Bukowski
speaks to me in a very encouraging way
and
it gives us right away two questions to
ask :
is that possible to reinvent ourselves?
and
i have two thoughts on this
number one:
think about your career
in our day and age in the 21st century
it’s certain that you will reinvent
yourself
career-wise
you have to do it
the times are past
where you learned something and then you
worked
until you retire just in that field
no
you have to reinvent yourself
or you have to start over and go a different path
take on a different role
however, you will need to do it
and the other idea is for you personally
about your personality
and that’s debatable.
I know some of you will say
I am who I am that’s not changing
but
on the other hand
we humans are storytelling machines
reinventing ourselves on a daily basis
retelling the story of who we are and
what matters to us
depending on the experiences and the situations we are in
we retell the story of who we are.
it would be so comfortable to just stay where I am
and
swim in the same slough that I know and
that’s not a refreshing cold nice
water
no
it’s the same slough
it’s like the
mediocre things I love to do
how easy would it be
change your tone and shape as often so
that they cannot categorize you because
that’s what people do
they
give us labels
without question
learning a new instrument
or taking on a new sport
or just training
is contributing to changing
our shape
who we are and what people thinkabout us that we are
reinvigorate yourself and accept what is
that’s hard
but it’s a good reminder
because there are things about us
about myself and about my situations
from where i’m starting perhaps indeed
there are circumstances i can’t change i
have no power over them
so accept what is
but also with the addition and only on
the terms that you invented and then
reinvented so even that is something you
can work on
work on them
be self-taught
yes
yes
continuously
learn new things and then at the end he
says reinvent your life because you must
that’s such a
clear statement you have to you have to
perhaps it’s connected to the leader to
the title there because otherwise people
will do it for you people
will take on that role those leaders how
easy it is to just be told who you are
and what you need to do some people find
comfort in that
just just accepting just saying yes
that’s me that’s who i am
but but you you can work it’s your life
and it’s present and it’s past it
belongs only to you not to someone else
to tell you
who you are and how you
should live your life and how you should
re inventing it it’s your life
it’s a powerful reminder it is
your
Peter Demuth 