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'LUCK IS THE RESIDUE OF DESIGN'
ON LUCK
September 16, 2004 - Austin, Texas - For years now, friends
and relatives have looked at my solitary little life and commented about
just how lucky I am. I've always shrugged it off, thinking in the
back of my mind that all that luck and grandiose stories they hear and
see are just the shiny, happy veneer on hours of tedious frustration and
hard work. I have always noticed when good things happen to me,
but have mostly shrugged it off, thinking in some way there was a better
way to live within the system, namely, outside of it.
Based on experience, I find
literally tripping into things is always a good sign. I remember
tripping through the door in front of the secretary when I first walked
into United Oil Paintings some ten years ago when I was answering an ad
for a light assembly warehouse job. I ended up spending the better
parts of five years toiling in a stress free environment with regular
raises and even more regular bonuses that helped pay a portion of my art
school education. The same thing happened when I walked into the
door at EMC as a data entry temp, tripping into a corporate office
filled with grey cubes and people in business dress attire. I left
there four years later, after doubling my pay and living off the
company's tab for a year in Ireland while damaging my liver and
traveling all across Europe. When I first arrived in Austin, I
stumbled off the plane and onto the long stretch of a mobile hallway
that led into the airport. Five hours later, Jodie was asking me
if I would ever leave the city.
When my mother and I visited the campus of the
Kansas City Art Institute, our tour guide told us her family's wagon
wheel broke off, there, and they never left, and she was happy for it.
My mom and I rolled our eyes at each other and continued the tour,
strangely mystified by the campus and the city built up around it. KCAI
wasn't my first choice of colleges, but it turned out to be the best
choice - had I ended up at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia,
the Northeast's penchant for over stimulation and aggressive lifestyle
would've eaten me up within three years. I barely held on in KC, let
alone in the City of Brotherly Love.
And it goes, from all the great people I've met in
Austin, from housemates, friends, acquaintances, to the incredible
studio situations I've had - from the ARThive, to Blue Genie to my
current lot at Bolm Studios - it's a bit surreal
to think of all the good things that have happened to me in my two and a
half year journey through Austin thus far. It's not an easy life,
with a lot more shoestrings and worrying into the wee hours of the
morning than even I'd admit to, but overall, everything is pretty damn
good. I've adjusted my eating schedule to being impoverished,
training my body to live off one meal a day, I haven't bought new
clothes in ages, hope that I never get seriously ill, and replacing
anything that breaks in my life is now a strict impossibility.
Still, I wouldn't trade the freedom or laughs for a lucrative job or a
new wardrobe.
So, I've taken the good with the bad, each new
hardship with a grain of salt and accept it as a
bit of a challenge. I've also begun to accept that luck just sorta
happens, you never explain or dwell on it, just thankfully accept it and
continue on, sort of like receiving a compliment. And always hope
and pray that it isn't the last bit of it you have left. That way,
the next time you find yourself in a situation beyond your wildest
dreams, and someone comments just how lucky you are, you secretly thank
those outside forces that somehow chose to shine down on you, and keep
moving.
Branch Rickey, the baseball executive who
signed Jackie Robinson, said, 'Luck is the residue of design'.
Growing up watching baseball, I heard this quote often, and was always
mystified by it. My young self tended to disagree, thinking luck
was just an unnatural occurrence that would rear its head every once in
a while, sometimes just to prove that no one ever had control of
anything ever. I've begun to rethink my stance though, thinking
that there is something to good design, a life well lived can produce
better results. Perhaps it's a bit of Puritanical thinking, the
influence of the American Dream, or just a desire to let my mind rest
enough at night to allow me to fall asleep, but I'd like to think that I
work and try fairly hard, don't go out of my way to upset folks, and
keep some sense of the positive flowing through my veins.
It isn't a perfect life by any stretch, but it
does have its sublime moments. So, keep up those positive thoughts folks, things
will start happening soon.
(Branch Rickey has a bunch
of
other worthwhile quotes too, feel free to substitute weightier
matters in place of baseball where need be)
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