From the Inspirational Thought Unit
I listened to an interview with Ken Burns this week on How I built This. In the interview, something stuck out to me. He says he never uses the word “career.” Instead he uses “professional life.”
I got from the interview that he went into filmmaking to make the kind of movies you would see in a theater, but ended up becoming a documentary filmmaker (maybe the world's greatest?) because he allowed himself to be exposed to a broader range of opportunities and not just focused on becoming his preconceived understanding of what a filmmaker is.
He clarified that a career is a form of imprisonment; a way of checking off boxes of prerequisites to achieve specific positions.
On the other hand, a professional life is driven by interests and abilities.
It got me thinking that when you are driven by your interests and abilities it opens up a world of opportunity to you. I used to think I couldn't start a business because artists aren't good at business. Or I couldn't write a book, because I'm just an illustrator. Or I avoided cool programs like Blender because I thought it would distract me from illustration.
When I was able to shake off the idea that an X only does Y, I was able to do so much more and feel way more fulfilled.
Not sure I want to abandon the word Career just yet, but I like the idea of thinking I’m building a “professional life” instead.
I recommend listening to this entire interview: LINK
-Jake